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Elaine and I weren’t best friends, but if I chose a best friend, it would be someone like her. She was warm and possessed a calm nature. I felt good being around her. When we met in two-thousand-six, I’d been referred by Carole, her best friend, my supervisor. Having lost a breast to cancer, Elaine needed household help. She recovered well but she and Rodney, her husband, got used to having a housekeeper and so they kept me on. I worked for them approximately one year on weekends, but I spent most of the time with Elaine, and I got to know what made Elaine the special person she was. In time, I acquired full time work and I left Carole’s employment and the weekend work at Elaine’s. Even though Elaine and I said things about “staying in touch”, we lost touch. Months later I re-entered Elaine’s life. She called me and asked if I’d consider working for her on weekends once again. She told me she had “back trouble”. I was happy to help her and she scheduled me in for Saturday mornings. When I arrived the following Saturday, I knocked on her door and watched Elaine approach through the window panel alongside her front door. I was astonished. The woman approaching the door pushed a walker and looked much older than her 42 years. Incredulous, I asked her what happened. She replied, “This happened”, as she moved one hand down her body. I can’t begin to adequately describe what crossed her face as the wan smile vanished. Her face held more pain than I’ve ever seen. It lay in her eyes.  “The cancer is my back, eating my spine.  I wear a brace around my chest because I would topple over without it”. Quickly replacing the sorrow with a smile she invited me to sit. We chatted a bit and I went to work.  One Saturday morning she said to me, “I’m not sleeping through the night. The pain is so severe. The doctors have increased pain medication”. She smiled,  “Another day Rodney, her husband called me and said, “Elaine is in the hospital. She’s not sleeping”…his voice trailed off.