As we were talking, it dawned on me that his health battle coincided with the judging for our SALONS OF THE YEAR competition. His Edina, Minnesota salon was our 2008 winner, so we had asked David to serve as one of this year's expert judges. I told him that I had no idea about his condition then, or would never have asked him to take on the task. 

His response surprised me. "It's funny you mention that," he laughed. "I actually judged that competition while reclining on pillows in the backseat as my parents drove me to my first treatment at the Mayo Clinic. It was a long drive, and it took me almost the entire trip. I had my laptop so I could review the salons' decor images, and my cell phone so I could tell my assistant my scores and comments."

As my mind formed that mental image, I said, "Why didn't you just tell us, 'No.'? We certainly would have understood."

Again, he surprised me. "Actually, it felt good to do it. Because my doctors were concerned about my exposure to germs, I only stepped foot in the salons a few times in the past several months and I was feeling pretty disconnected. Judging the competition helped me feel part of the industry that I love."

It just goes to show you that you never really know what is going on in someone else's life, nor how something you may do or say may impact them. Chances are that kind of magic happens in the chairs of your salon every day. It's a lesson that David, as the author of Life as a Daymaker, has been teaching us for years. And, now I want to thank him for making my day with that story.

If you missed the original Faces of Cancer story....read it here.