The card

Two of my friends and I have a conference call every few weeks just to catch up, and of course, as soon as I told them about the cancer, a call was scheduled.

We got the serious stuff out of the way, and then I assured them that I was ready to laugh.

And that brought us to them telling me I had to be sure to use The Cancer Card. So we riffed on how I could use this whole thing to my advantage. 

"I'm sorry. I can't work overtime. I have cancer."

"I'm sorry, I can do the laundry. I have cancer."

So I thought I'd try it on my husband.

When I cook, he cleans the kitchen. And when he cooks, I clean the kitchen.

So the other night, he made spaghetti, and you know what a mess that can make. So I loaded everything I could into the dishwasher, but the noodle pot and the sauce pot have to be hand washed.

So I walked into the kitchen, and Jeff was looking through some mail at the table.

"So I guess you're expecting me to wash these pots?" I asked him.

He just looked at me.

"You know I have cancer, right?" I said.

He looked at me for a few seconds, then said, "Yeah ..."

"Dang, dude! That's cold!" I said to him.

Well THAT didn't work like it was supposed to! But we did get a good laugh out of it.

One of my friends who lives a few towns over was coming here for an appointment one weekday afternoon. She asked if I wanted to meet her for lunch, and of course, I did. And the restaurant she suggested isn't usually crowded on weekday afternoons.

She texted back and said, "I'm buying your lunch. No arguments."

I texted back, "But ... but ... but ..."

And she texted back, "You have cancer!"

And I laughed and laughed.

My mother-in-law was visiting, so I told her about our text conversation and said, "Can you believe that?"

And my mother-in-law said, "That's good. See what else you can get her to pay for!"

So I wouldn't seriously use The Card. But if it'll get a laugh, I'll throw it out there for sure.