Day 65

Saturday we took my son to the airport so he could fly back to Iraq. That was not much fun but it was good to have him back for a visit. The two weeks flew by as I knew it would. He actually spent a little more time with us this time than he has before which was nice.

One of the ministers at our church called me last week and asked me to say a few words about my cancer experience as it relates to a response of compassion from others. The Bible class topic of discussion was compassion as well as the sermon topic. What I wrote was supposed to be an adjunct to the sermon. Billy told me I could take two minutes so I tried to keep it short. I'm going to post what I wrote below in case you might be interested.

Good morning everyone. Billy asked me to say a few words about my experience with cancer as it relates to a response of compassion from others. I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to say a few words of thanks for all the acts of sympathy which were showered on me and my wife as we have taken up the battle against cancer. And I do thank each of you for all your generous efforts on our behalf. There are a few individuals among the army of friends, relatives, colleagues, and even strangers whose actions went beyond the norm. Each and every response of compassion was equally treasured by my wife and I.

Anyone who is living with or has had a life threatening disease like cancer can tell you it is a humbling experience. You and your loved ones are forced to come to terms with mortality that may not be immediate but demands your real attention right now. I suppose one common reaction to cancer is to deny it and to keep it a secret and that was my reaction at first. But I realized it wouldn’t be long before people began to find out. I didn’t want rumors to get started so I decided to come clean and just broadcast the ugly facts to the world so the truth would be known as much as possible and we could all deal with it. That is why I started a web site to allow people to keep as informed as they wanted to be.

As I became more open about what was going on with me, I had no idea what was about to happen as a result. First and foremost, I was added to the prayer lists of individuals, groups, and churches locally and in other cities. We also received a stack of cards about a foot tall. That is a lot of cards. This was a huge response of compassion from an army of friends who were showing sympathy and concern for my wellbeing which was far beyond what I might have thought I deserved.

Another response of compassion was the food which was lovingly given to us not just once but many times over several weeks. Our co-workers took up a collection and sent us money – not just once but twice. Our colleagues filled in for us while we had to be away for my cancer treatments. Our neighbors took care of our house, raked leaves, kept an eye on things, and stocked our refrigerator when we got to come home. Life groups, friends, and neighbors gave us calling cards, WalMart cards, and a number of restaurant cards. This response of compassion was quite stunning to me at first because I didn’t feel I warranted such a generous response. I quickly grew to appreciate every action of kindness. It was and still is very good to know I am not alone in fighting the battle against cancer.