I Saw An Angel on Halloween

On Halloween, I couldn’t wait to finish my shorter day at the clinic so that I could go trick-or- treating with my six year old son. This year I bought him a Lego Ninjago costume and he looked so happy dressed up at his after school pre-Halloween parade.

PC was my last patient for the day. As I walked to the exam room to greet PC, my staff reminded me that she needed to leave earlier today. Before I started my routine interview, PC asked me if today's visit could be cut by half and still be effective. With my sense of humor, I told her I could easily do that by giving her twice as many needles or inserting the needles twice as deep or cranking up the electro-stimulation twice as strong as I usually do. We both laughed hard...

Knowing PC was a gifted and humble teacher for children with special needs who is always very serious about the relief and relaxation she could get in each minute of her routine visits, I asked her why she had to cut her long awaited acupuncture visit so short. She told me that she wanted to take three kids from her class to buy costumes and then go trick- or- treating. It turned out that these three kids missed the school's parade because their parents could not afford their costumes. PC said that this bothered her the whole day and she could not bear to let her students miss trick- or- treating on Halloween night after already missing the school's parade. My heart sank as I realized that not all kids are able to get the costumes they want on Halloween.   

After treating PC, I told my staff to charge her only half of the fee she usually pays. When she realized she received a special treat, PC said she didn't expect this kind offer and felt very embarrassed. I told her I would feel embarrassed as well if the three kids did not have costumes and missed their trick- or- treating tonight.  

Later, when I picked my son up from after school, he asked me why I seemed so happy. I told him that I just saw an angel on Halloween.

Frank He, L. Ac., QME, DAOM
Edited by Sarah Tang, DTCM