My friend Nic

I'll post an embarrassing photo of Nic later but I just wanted to share with you all (who is out there anyway? :) ) an exchange I recently had with him. I met Nic at Camp Goodtimes when he was a cute little cancer patient who lived for lighting up the dance floor with amazing dancing and lip sync-ing to songs from Grease. He spent most of his non-dancing lip sync-ing moments chasing and annoying the crap out of the girls at camp. It worked out for him in the end though. Right now he's in his 20's and going out with one of them!

I just wanted to share a bit of back and forth texting that took place the other day between me and Nic;

Me;

Hey, I really enjoyed our random conversation the other day. Would you mind if I posted a bit of it on my blog?

I think that we really touched on some important points that might be of interest to some people.

Nic;

Sure.

At this point, I am one week month away from finishing my chemo, I might not have to do radiation for it, and all I am focusing on, is getting to camp and moving to Seattle to be with Athena...

and thank you Moose. That means a lot to me...

The conversation;

Nic;

I am about to get a little serious here, and that doesn't happen often with me. Ask Athena.

I just read your blog about Gloria. In it you wrote, "I felt crippled by my inability to help her suffering.".

Just by BEING there you helped her suffering Paul. Trust me. I know. There is no drug on the planet that can help ease pain better then knowing that there are people in the world who care about you.

The nurses at Children's and similar hospitals are angels. There is no doubt about that. It takes a special kind of person to sit and watch children get poisoned and what not throughout chemo and be able to walk in every day with a smile on their face. But it also takes a special person to do what you do...

Thank you for that. Thank you for everything.

Me;

Nic, I do greatly appreciate your comments. I just wish there was more that I could do...yesterday at the hospital, Codi could barely move. She was laying on her side breathing deliberately and most likely just counting the minutes between pain meds. At one point she said quietly that she was sorry! In other words, sorry that she couldn't be more fun. I told her that it was just a joy to be able to visit so she better knock off the crazy talk! What a sweatheart...

You know all to well what this ordeal is like my friend. You have tackled adversity so well and have made a huge impact on the world with your zest for life. You've even convinced (or perhaps trapped with some voodoo spell) a very nice young lady to hang out with you. Amazing.


I just found out this morning that Codi got all the way home last night for two whole hours before having to be rushed by ambulance back to ICU.

No one really knows how this or any other situation will 'end up', but the end DOES NOT define the situation or the person. NOW does. Now is real, tangible, attainable and transformable. To me that's what it's all about...life, camp, you name it.

We all have so much to do here and sometimes it's just the required elements of eating, sleeping, working. The key for me is twofold; one is to see what can be done with those other 'elective' moments, the other is to see if you can manipulate your working life to be as fulfilling as possible. That's the hard part, because some of the most amazing jobs only pay enough for you to afford living in a lovely van down by the river!

In other words Nic, to make a long message even longer but to also make a final point at the same time... let's just join the mutual admiration society and go out there and try to make the world a better place!

Deal?

Nic;

Deal