Sharon is Jewish. Being Jewish in
Albuquerque is exotic. You know everyone and anyone you don’t know wants to know you. You are fascinating.
Sharon is a kept woman. She gets her brows done faithfully every two weeks. Color and cuts regularly and shampoo blowouts with manicure and pedicure weekly. She schedules make-up applications with me for special occasions and parties. Her two favorite things in life are; her pug Naomi and shopping.
As I meticulously groom her brows we talk about what went on that morning at home and what her plans are for today. “I think I will go buy a sweater she says. “Where should I go look for sweaters?” Every November she reminds me where to get the best pumkin roll in the world. “You have to special order it” she says. “From Tasteful Savories”. She asks me for that lady’s name who makes the great tamales. We have this conversation every year.
Sharon has breast cancer. This is something you would never know looking at her and she doesn’t talk about it with just anyone. She’s gone through her chemo and radiation and is know on a preventative plan with a specialist in Houson. This morning she was weepy when she came in because of an argument she had with her husband regarding burial plots. She’s sure that if she dies before her husband he will remarry. She doesn’t want another woman buried next to her and her husband. “I’ll just get cremated” she says. “They’ll toss my ashes in the ocean in
San Francisco”. That solves the problem
J
