Working

I was online, doing some research for work. Come on, seriously, I wasn't looking up the latest items added to j.crew sale, or the vast color array of Mac lipglosses, or an imaginary floral aqua, red, pink and white tablecloth (maybe Anthro?). I was seeing about the difference between anytime and any time, and also sales tax vs. sales-tax. Ah, the fascinating life of an editor. I love it, the minutiae, the silly qualms that make up an hour sometimes. Words are cool. Ok, I'm a nerd. Whatever. There was a banner ad for St. Jude's, and a photo of this sad-looking boy with mendullo-something.

The company that I work for supports a charity called CAN, or Corporate Angel Network. It's pretty sweet actually. They provide free flights onboard their corporate aircraft for cancer patients needing a way to get to treatment in various parts of the country. We ran a gratis ad in the magazine that I work on for my job. There was a sad girl, who presumably was afflicted with some horrible disease, holding a teddy bear on a plane. It was freakin' depressing. My designer and I would laugh about it. Not that horrible ad with the sad, sleeping girl, we'd say.

Never a few weeks ago would I have ever in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be that girl. Well, not all sad and sleepy, but figuratively speaking. So, when I saw that St. Jude's ad today online, while I was looking up trivial compounds, I really stared at it. And genuinely felt sad for that little guy, his family, everyone who loves him, the doctors who are doing everything they can to cure him – but not for me.

I feel so happy. Like, exceptionally happy. Am I sad-proof? In a state of perpetual happydom? (God, that does not mean I need some OTHER crazy life-threatening/traumatic course-altering/challenging obstacle. I'm good. Thanks :)