madonna's waiting room

today i had a lady doctor appointment. i hate doctors appointments in general, but knew i should probably go. blah! i even called the office to see if i could reschedule, but alas, it would take too long to come back. so i begrudgingly went in.

now let me set the record straight. in my humble opinion, a good lady doctor is hard to find. you have to feel comfortable with this person to go down there (if you know what i mean). i picked this particular woman from 50 or so candidates that accepted my insurance. and i picked her soley for her name: madonna holder. i figured an ob/gyn with the name madonna had to be pretty cool. turned out, i really liked her the first time i went. she's from trinidad with a heavy accent, a mid-wife and super down to earth with a good sense of humor. the office was only 5 minutes walk from my house too so i knew i picked the right place. funny thing is, i'm the only white girl i've ever seen in that office and ms. madonna remembers me (i'm guessing because of that).

the shitty thing about the place is that in the few visits i've had there, i've never waited less than 2 hours in that little waiting room! just the way it is. i brought my ipod and book for my long wait and when i arrived, of course the office was full. only one chair left to sit and wait. it was directly across from an older black woman with a big ol' wrap around her head (a la erykah badu in her head wrap days). i immediately sensed a good vibe from this woman. i can't quite remember how we started talking, but as soon as we did, the conversation just flowed.

we chatted on and on about ms. madonna and how great she was, about brooklyn and the neighborhood, about how she moved to staten island to get away from the riff raff in brooklyn to find some peace and quiet. we just bonded. then, she mentioned how she lost her son almost a year to the day. i opened my eyes wide... "that's strange" i said, "it's my father's birthday today. and he passed away this year as well." "oh girl!" she said with comforting eyes and a sensitive touch to my knee. "i know what you're going through. believe me, i do."

then we got into this whole counseling session. just the two of us, sitting across from each other, knees practically touching in that tiny waiting room, killing time before taking our pants off for ms. madonna. we talked about our struggles this year. the good days, the bad days. how hard it is for a mother to lose her child, and likewise a daughter to lose her father etc, etc. it was fascinating. a 29 year old white girl from california and a 57 year old black woman from NY had this bizarre connection.

we traded phone numbers before our appointments. i'm going to visit her in staten island this weekend i think. i've never been and she just raved about it. would be nice to see it from someone who lives there and takes pride in her neighborhood. who knew? i'm glad i actually went to that appointment! the universe sure works in mysterious ways...