Chemo, Part II
I am sitting in the chemo room for round two. I have about three hours left and things are going well. Most of the people here are quite old and most of them are quite forlorn. There is not a lot of happiness or joy in the room. But that all changes when Julius Scipio walks in the room. He is a tall, skinny black man who always wears a tie and suspenders to his chemo treatment. He is 81 years old and is also suffering from colon cancer.
When Julius walks in, he instantly greets everyone he walks by. He gives old ladies hugs — he even asked one lady for some sugar. When anyone asks him how he is doing he says, “I’m doing GREAT!” and laughs a little. He has been coming here for chemo treatments for a year now. He talks to everyone and tells stories about his life. He talks about his wife of 55 years who he had to put into a nursing home — it was hard for him to go home to a king bed and be the king without a queen. He talks about how he has very few side-effects of the chemo and that allows him to be in his garden every day.
I am sitting here on the computer (once again, I am the only one with a laptop) and so I looked up this Julius Scipio character. I found an article about him in our local Anderson paper. The article (you can read it here) talks about his desire to share the fruits of his garden with his neighbors. But I love the quote at the end:
“All of us were put here to do something. You have to keep a purpose in life. So I’m up every morning and working in this garden. I love it. I get so much happiness from this garden because I can help people.â€
My hope and prayer is this: That I will brighten up the room when I walk in making others feel better AND that I will keep a purpose in life. I, of course, am not much of a gardener, but my hope is that I can find — and keep — a purpose in life to help people.
Hi Zac,
Thank you for you post on the chemotherapy. Can you please tell me if you are on Facebook? Thanks…
I sure am: http://www.facebook.com/zacjs8.
I hope that the side effects are minimal…so you too can find your “garden” to work in.
I think your blog is sort of a garden…it’s always encouraging to read and I think you are helping people with it.
love you lots! -oj
Really look forward to seeing you guys soon…I am SO excited!
Thanks, OJ — I thought that, too — maybe this blog is my garden.
The Gardener of Fruits and the Gardener of Words together…
The longer I live this life the more I realize and see that it is all of God’s will.
Me knowing you, you knowing me, you writing about life, you thinking about Julius.
Is it not amazing that each of our moments together have a purpose?
True, HH — finding purpose in these moments never gets old!
Sounds like a cool dude… I found another article you might wanna check out: http://tinyurl.com/lt42sq
Thanks, Lord, for Julius!
Hey Zac,
Been praying. I love the story of the old man and your desire to learn from his journey. Saw that Stacey’s family got to gets to Quito tomorrow. AWESOME that she will soon be able to be with you, Mandy and the kids. Gotta love those family huddles in a crisis! Praying you have lessened side effects on this round but good results on in killing the bad stuff. Love and blessing and EXTRA grace on everybody.
Wanda
Hey Zac –
Wish you could just enjoy a carefree summer rather than deal with your cancer. So sorry. But I am continually amazed by how you are able to stay positive, enjoy your family, and write this inspiring blog. Hopefully your summer will be full of unexpected fun and gifts you did no expect. (It was so crazy to hear about Dan’s cancer, also. We are praying for both of you!)
Love, Susanna
Julius is proof that God can use us to help others in the midst of our storms. I’m pretty certain you’re not the only person watching Julius.