During my early teens, when I first got hooked on using IRC for finding like minded individuals, I came across a guy who was local, was a musician and was currently battling testicular and stomach cancer. M.M. was in the hospital a lot, receiving chemotherapy and radiation. This all meant that M.M. could not do what he loved - play and watch live music.
I wondered how I could help him.
After chatting with him for awhile, I knew what I could do for him. How I could help him feel better and encourage his recovery. Every single concert/show I went to, I would later explain in great detail what happened, what songs were played, any funny mishaps or notable things that might interest him.
He relied on my experiences to help him feel better, to get through one more chemotherapy treatment, to just want to survive. And I was grateful that I could help him so much in such a painful time. It made me feel better about myself and my struggles at the time; it was important to get out to shows, I had to make M.M. feel better! It was a great motivation.
Years later, I ended up having a cervical cancer scare. The first person I contacted was M.M. It was not his turn to help me. He took me to my appointments, made sure I was okay, he took care of me throughout all my testing. After going through a few procedures, I was happy to find out that I didn't have cancer. M.M. was there the whole time.
To this day, M.M. is someone I turn to in times of high stress and illness. Just as he still turns to me.
This is part of the reason why I started this blog. It motivates me to do more when I know I can help others.
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