Roses

Are you tired of flowers? This set were sent from a florist. There’s a story. Ha! A patient’s family sent them to the office. I had the brilliant notion to invite two families to dinner the previous Saturday. That would be dinner for twelve. I had offered to cook. Yup! I was gonna do it. And then the call came. I had an emergency operation – an acoustic neuroma. They are tricky delicate operations that required the operating microscope and long hours of careful dissection around the nerve and brainstem. Yup, tricky and delicate. I’d draw out this story but long about dinnertime – say about 5PM – I had my operating room nurse call home and inform my wife I’d be a bit longer – say several more hours. Needless to say, my wife had already made Plan B. Everyone went out instead. I finished up around 8PM and could probably have made it to the restaurant. But I chickened out and had dinner nearby with my PA (assistant).

We’re almost at the punchline. After the surgery an anxious family heard the story of the harrowing operation in which we saved their loved one and preserved brain function so that the young man could live on for many more years. I also told them the story of the aborted dinner. The next Tuesday, these enormous roses arrived during my office hours. I would have difficulty explaining how large they were (bigger than my fist – that would be a 7 ½ size surgical glove). I can only say they were the largest blooms I have ever seen. Ok, I’m a guy. What do you do? Take ‘em home to your wife and apologize for messing up dinner the previous weekend. Right! I didn’t tell her the roses were from the family. I told her I’d gotten them (I left out the “how”)  and brought them home. The story and apology would’ve worked except that the nurses ratted me out at the Christmas party nine months later. Nurses! They have a long memory. Be nice to them.