People who surprise you

Two days ago I mentioned I was going to visit my aunt who has breast cancer. With a box of chocolates, flowers and Pork Chop in tow I arrived at 3pm and I was pleasantly surprised to see how well she looked considering she is about to undergo her third lot of chemo next week.

She looked slimmer and healthy and her hair was a lovely warm chestnut shade, cut into quite a modern style, although still a bit mumsy. Now, my aunt has always had a pudding bowl haircut which is a delicate grey. At first I didn't like to ask if she had had her hair done or whether it was a wig. As it turned out, when I finally plucked up the courage it turned out it was a wig as her own hair has fallen out. However, it really really suits her and you would never tell it was false hair. It is amazing what a change of hair colour can do for someone's appearance and I hate to say it but it looked a damn sight better than my aunt's own hair, not that I said that to her face. But anyway, I was amazed that despite her illness she looked really really good.

She is quite stoic is my aunt and is taking things in her stride. The prognosis is good and if she can endure chemo now then there is every chance she will be cured and won't get secondary cancer, which is, quite literally, the killer.

The reason she surprised me though was not so much her appearance but what she said to me during conversation. Now I am by no means a prude (indeed if you have read any of my previous posts you will know it is quite the opposite) so when I told her the story of how my boss got into trouble in his previous job for calling one of his female employees a fucking cunt in front of the rest of the staff and how it worried me about what reception I might get in returning to work I naturally said f-ing c-u-n-t to soften the blow.

My aunt however, in a lovely home counties accent, retorted: "Well, he can't be a very nice man if he calls someone a cunt can he."

I must have sat there open-mouthed for a good few seconds before recovering my composure. She carried on as if she had done nothing more innocuous than pass comment on the awful weather.

It just goes to show you can never judge someone by their appearance and even close family can end up surprising you.