Nice things do still happen

On my way home last night, I saw that my sister had called. I called her back to see what was up. She told me that she went to see her friend in LaPorte. Now since the friend is a force unto herself and my sister’s stories about her are always entertaining, I asked what happened this time.

Turns out the friend had a chance to be a part of something pretty amazing.

There is a family that my family grew up with from church. I was in Pre-Calc with their oldest son and in band with the middle son. My middle sister was in band with the middle son and my youngest sister had classes with their youngest son.

Awhile back, we heard the news that the youngest son was diagnosed with cancer. I won’t pretend I know even the basic information about what type of cancer it is or what stages mean what. All I know is that it was bad and we were basically told he only had a few months left.

You hear news like that and sometimes it truly rocks your world. We are talking about a young man, recently married and a new father with literally his entire life ahead of him. He is my youngest sister’s age (29). His family grew up with mine. And I kept thinking, “How do you deal with something like this?”

The months have gone by (maybe even a year now) and he’s still with us, some might say miraculously. My sister told me that he set three goals for himself. He wanted to marry, become a father, and get his college degree.

In the past few weeks, his condition took a turn for the worse. I cannot imagine what it must be like to call your family and say that it might be your last Christmas.

This December, he reached his third goal. He achieved his Engineering Degree from Purdue University at the North Central Campus. He pressed on through the chemo, and the radiation treatments and bad days. And he made it happen. There was one problem though. There were too few graduates with that particular degree and the graduation ceremony for them would not be held until Spring Commencement. And with typical grace, he said, if that was what he had to do, that’s what he would do.

Knowing there was a chance he might not be there to walk across that stage come May.

While he and his family took a mini-vacation and had some well-deserved family time, a plan was set into motion. Nothing could be done about the December graduation ceremony at that point, but friends and co-workers contacted the Chancellor at PNC and explained the situation. And the man simply said, “Tell me the date and I will clear my calendar. I’ll be there.”

And so they arranged for a personal graduation ceremony for him at the courthouse where he worked. His wife brought his cap and gown. They had programs printed up, just like at the official ceremony. The mayor gave a speech. The Chancellor gave a speech. The graduation cake had the Purdue insignia on it.

My sister’s friend is a photographer. She found out about the impromptu ceremony from the young man’s mom, dropped everything and photographed the event. Because it was the holidays, his parents and his brothers were all in town and able to attend.

A lot of people did any number of kindnesses to make that graduation happen. It wasn’t national news, but it was his day, and that was all that mattered.

I didn’t name names because I haven’t spoken with the family or the friend about sharing this story. And knowing them, especially in this difficult time, they may want a little privacy. I cannot imagine what day to day life is like for them, knowing everything could change in a moment’s notice. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have everyone know you are going to die. Perhaps it is the simple idea of celebrating life as we live it and not dwelling on missing someone before they are gone.

What I do know is that this remarkable young man has managed to pack his life full of blessings and good people. He probably doesn’t even know me, and yet his story has touched me in ways I cannot describe.

God Bless, to you and yours, and everyone who has passed a kindness on.