Too Many Meanings

This morning, I stopped by the Beebe Hospital off-site lab to get a vial or two of blood drawn. I get blood tests every month to make sure that my blood's clotting properties are what my doctor wants them to be as we treat my blood clot problem. This is minor, health maintenance stuff.

This morning, as I sat waiting for the technician to (delicately) shove a needle into my artery, I found myself looking around at a collection of Halloween decorations. The room was tricked-out with a cardboard skeleton and a mess of fake spider-web, complete with tiny plastic spiders, tacked up in several corners. There may have been paper pumpkins and black cat cut-outs pinned to the walls as well. I was only there a moment or two and don't clearly recall.

It got me thinking (as I tend to do). My health issues are not dire; I'm responding well to treatment. But I know there are folks dealing with serious health problems who must frequent that place. Are Halloween skeletons really as light-hearted in that office as they are in others?

I'm fairly certain I saw no cardboard tombstones tacked to the walls, thank goodness. That would be a bit too close for comfort.