ben, ready for action, Canon Digital Rebel XTi

Some years ago a friend of mine was telling me about an icky procedure she was going to have to do the next day at the hospital. “Do you want me to go with you?” I asked. Tears welled up in her eyes. “That would be so nice,” she said. “I didn’t know I could ask for that.”

There have been so many times I’ve been in the doctor’s office by myself getting tests or biopsies and wishing someone was with me. I don’t think we ever stop wanting the comfort of a loved one at a scary visit to the doctor. We underestimate how vulnerable it makes us feel.

My friends and I were talking about this recently and realized that we all think we have to do these things by ourselves.

We don’t.

We don’t have to be that independent or strong. It broke my heart to hear that a friend of mine recently got a biopsy for breast cancer all by herself. Can we all make a pact right now that we can ask our pals to go with us to the places that scare us?