STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE

"Stepping up to the plate" is no small thing. For most cancer survivors that I've known, the husband/wife/friend/care giver is really "right there" when they're needed. Rarely, the person is not able to do it for whatever reason and more often than not, very sad. My Vientam buddy stepped up to the plate. The following email was so very poignant that it seems appropriate to share it.

 

HELLO CHAPLIN AUDREY

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANSWERING MY E-MAIL.  I JUST WANT TO FILL YOU IN ON MY LIFE SINCE VIETNAM.  I WAS MARRIED JUST BEFORE I LEFT FOR THE ARMY.  I WAS BROUGHT UP IN A CHRISTIAN FAMILY BUT LOST MY FAITH ONCE I WENT TO VIETNAM.  I WAS A RESEARCHER FOR TIME MAGAZINE BEFORE AND WHEN I CAME BACK BUT LEFT THE JOB TO MOVE UP TO BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS, SO I THOUGHT.  I WENT THROUGH THE NORMAL EXPERIENCE OF HEAVY DRINKING AND BEING ANGRY ALL THE TIME.  I WENT INTO SALES AND MADE A GOOD LIFE FOR MYSELF(OR SO I THOUGHT).  MY WIFE KEPT HER FAITH, KNOWING SOME DAY I WOULD TURN BACK TO GOD.  YEARS LATER(1991) MY WIFE WAS DIAGNOSE WITH BREAST CANCER AND GIVEN ONLY 6 MONTHS TO LIVE.  SHE MANAGED TO BEAT IT TWICE BUT FINALLY PAST AWAY FROM THE DIEASE 10 YEARS LATER BUT NOT BEFORE I CAME BACK TO GOD.  WE BOTH HAD EVERYTHING BUT I WOULD OF GIVEN UP ALL FOR HER. 

 

AFTER HER DEATH I NEVER CRAWLED BACK INTO THE BOTTLE AND TRIED TO GO ON WITHOUT HER.  I KNEW HER SINCE I WAS 5 YEARS OLD.  YEARS PAST AND I MET MY NEW WIFE WHO HAD SIMILAR PAST LOSING HER HUSBAND TO CANCER.  I TRIED TO BE AN EXAMPLE TO HER AND SHE ALSO GAVE HER LIFE TO GOD. 

 

 I'M ALMOST 65 NOW AND SEMI RETIRED AND WE ARE PLANNING ON MOVING OFF LONG ISLAND NY AND GO TO STROUDSBURG PA.  SHE HAS BEEN SUCH A HELP TO ME WITH FACING MY PAST. 

 

I ALWAYS THOUGHT OF DANNY STEPHENS AND JACKIE MONTGOMERY ANOTHER FRIEND THAT I LOST AND WONDER IF ANYONE WAS OUT THERE SEARCHING.  I'VE BEEN ON MANY SITES LOOKING AND FOUND JIMMY STEPHENS NAME AND E-MAIL LAST WEEK AND WROTE TO HIM.  WE SENT EACH OTHER SEVERAL E-MAILS AND THIS LAST SUNDAY JIMMY CALLED AND HAD A GOOD CONVERSATION.  I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DID FOR THE TROOPS.  I DON'T THINK YOU REMEMBER BUT AT ONE OF YOUR SERVICES YOU ASK ME IF I NEEDED ANYTHING AND I TOLD YOU A RADIO, AND THE NEXT TIME YOU WERE IN THE FIELD YOU BROUGHT ME THAT RADIO.  I SENT JIMMY SOME INFO THIS MORNING AND ENCLOSED THE ARTICLE ABOUT YOU IN TIME MAGAZINE BACK IN 1970, DO YOU REMEMBER IT?  THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING THERE.
TAKE CARE & BE WELL
DONALD J MENDOCHA