We come to the time when my
illness shook my world. If I was shocked
by the sudden diagnosis of a terminal illness the response of my friends and
colleagues was nearly as huge. As many
said to me “I never would have dreamed this could happen to you” or “you were
the last person I would ever have thought this could happen to” and so on. There is a Danish saying that Mom uses often “it’s
never so bad that it isn’t good for something” and so it has been with this
illness.
Friends and colleagues who may
have slowly drifted away after my retirement have come back to me with moral
support, empathy, wisdom and friendship.
One such person is Gale who has had her own fight with cancer. Gale’s experience caused her to become very
involved in cancer programs but it also led her to be an empathetic colleague
to those who eventually went through the illness (and in a company numbering
over 500 at its peak the odds were that some would be diagnosed). Gale was there for Vreni from beginning to
end and beyond. She has been there for
me from the moment she learned about my diagnosis. I burst into tears at the hospital when she
told me she was doing the cancer walk in my name last summer.
Cancer is a frightening word and
possibly the most powerful word in any language. But this word is also one that brings out the
best in people. I have experienced firsthand
how people’s Empathy-Meter swings to 10 the moment they learn one is diagnosed. But for some who are diagnosed they take their
empathy to the next level. They Pay It
Forward – and Gale is one of those people who pays it forward, giving out
empathy, wisdom and strength with a generosity of spirit that is hard to match.
I feel very lucky that she has
taken me under her wing.
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