21.  Today was not her lucky day.  But we
would beat fate.  All she had to do was see
her doctor on another day and my prophecy
would not be a prophecy.

Well, as superstitious as mom was, and I
could see she was slightly perturbed by the
similarity between the timing of her situation
and Belinda's, she went to see the doctor
anyways, that cold day.  Despite my repeated
warnings before she got on that cold bus.

I must have gotten no more than two or three
hours sleep over the next few nights.  Then…
… the test results came in.  Cancer had 
spread to various organs in her abdomen,
which would require major surgery with only
a fifty-fifty chance she would pull through
the surgery, let alone survive the cancer.

I was never the same after that experience.
Mom pulled through, barely . . . . . but I
didn't.  Up until this point in my life I had
considered myself quite a rationalist and
cynic and held little respect for those who
would place great emphasis on trivial