Day By Day

Dear Friends,

It has been a little while and I must confess that I was waiting to feel better as Treatment #2 on September 3rd kicked my butt for a few days. Doctors and friends had warned me that the effect can be accumulative and it appeared to be. The first treatment went off with one night of chills while the second chemo infusion caused me some pain and swelling, with little sleep at night for a few days. I began to feel much better on Sunday the 7th and today I am actually getting some things done. Thank God for NCAA and NFL football to watch while I was down though I kept thinking if I got hit that hard once it would take a logging helicopter to get me off the field.

A constant message that come through the good days and the bad days is that we should be living each precious moment, each day, day by day. "As soon as I get into school...as soon as I get out of school...as soon as I get into grad school...as soon as I get a job...as soon as I meet my life partner...as soon as we have kids...as soon as the kids get into school...as soon as the kids get out of school...as soon as I get promoted...as soon as I retire...THEN I WILL BE HAPPY!" No wonder life goes so quickly when we live the future today, lauding or remorseful about the past, we miss the only thing we can do anything about, and that it today. Throw in a little technology and social media for distraction, a couple of commercials that tell us the kind of watch we wear or the type of car we drive says a lot about who we are, and it is no wonder so many of us are lost. Wandering from one half lived "I was sort of there" experience to the next, we just miss it. And what is it? LIFE.

If there is a positive to pain, and I would not likely have said this Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, it is that it grounds you in the moment. Prayer helps me. Your texts and emails too. But a side ache just announces to you that it demands your attention. A swelling tells you, "Don't lay on this side. I'm not kidding." Therefore, when people ask how I am doing, I have taken to saying, "Today I am doing well." Or, "Today, I am not feeling so hot." Each day, one at a time. Focus. Be present. Don't take the good ones for granted, and for God's sake, don't live the bad ones in advance.

Yesterday, we had a family dinner and took a family picture. It was important to me and all the children, son in laws, and grandchildren came. Grandma and I fixed dinner and my friend John Harris and Jody took a picture of us and made a small video. It seemed to me that everything I needed to be happy was in one room for a brief moment and I thanked God for that. I believe most of what we need to be happy is around us. What makes people happy is not money, power, or prestige, but being needed by others. And we are all needed. What would I have done without my family and friends during this time? There are people in your lives who need you today. Are you listening? To paraphrase an oft used analogy; yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is the only currency we really have to spend. Let's pledge to each other that we will do out best to spend it wisely.

Lastly, among the nice things that happened to me in the midst of the travails this week were a wonderful card sent by Melody Lane Virding, one of my oldest friends. We worked together at the University of The Pacific a thousand years ago. She is just one of the most wonderful people in the world. Thanks Mel. Continued joke support from Dan Ahern in California who sends me a joke a day because humor heals. We are sick men Dan! Our humor cracks us up. A confirmation from Iowa State University to have me as their Destination Iowa State Orientation speaker for the next two years. That's positive thinking and very validating! Thanks Sarah and Liz! A great email from Father Robert Silva, my spiritual mentor and friend from Stockton. His example of faith, especially in crisis, has guided thousands of us through his campus ministry. A visit from my nephew Tyler Volz and Meghan from Colorado to check up on me during their triathlon in Oregon.  A book entitled Being Single With Cancer, by my friend and cancer survivor Tracy Maxwell. She has been very supportive! Thanks for your example Tracy. Check this book out. A "Get Well Will" video from the New Students at Linfield College. Thank you! Nice emails from Jim Matthews and Nancy Hunter Denney, two of my friends who share the road with me as professional speakers. Their messages change lives. Great encouragements from my friend Coach Bryan Oleman, and all of the nice emails and prayers you have sent me. I am grateful and your encouragements supported me through a rough couple of days. I am blessed to call you all friends.

Blessings to all of you, day by day!

Will