The last day of school is finally here.
I run home with joy and happiness.
Finally home and my Dad says “We need to talk”.
“Where’s Mom?” I ask, longing to know.
“She’s visiting someone in the hospital” he says with an odd tone in his voice.
Who? Why? What happened?
My mind is going a million miles an hour, racing with questions.
“She’s..... visiting Ben.”, he replies.
Once again those questions returned,
Why? What could’ve happened?
“They think he has cancer” he says and then, everything begins to make sense.
My eyes grow huge and stare in disbelief.
The friend I've known since we were born... has cancer?
How could this be?
Immediately, I want to see him.
It still is hard to believe,
Cancer?

The visits continue, about one or so a week.
Watching him get weaker and weaker.
The time comes to shave his head, he asks “Will we all do it together?”
“Of course!” we reply, ready to do it.
Six brothers and friends proudly shave their heads in solidarity.
Feeling a refreshing summer breeze blow against my head now becomes cold.
It takes a while to get used to, but feels good, knowing I am supporting him.

Slowly, he gets better.
One day, able to go home,
Soon after, strong enough to get out of the house.
Watching him get stronger is encouraging.
It is amazing to see him go through all this.

Then finally, I hear good news.
“He’s done!” they tell me,
“He’s cancer free!”
Incredible! He's cured!
This calls for a party, a celebration.
And that is exactly what happened.
Everyone celebrating with so much joy on their faces.

~

Two years later, he stays cancer free,
Still going in for checkups, but as healthy as ever.
The scars remain, as a reminder of that troubling time.
Sometimes I forget what happened,
And when I remember, it makes everything seem twice as crazy.
One of my closest friends could've died.
He had a disease people can barely imagine going through.
But how "cancer-free" really is he?
Not completely.
We still have two and a half more years to wait.
By then we can know for sure that he will never again get Stage 4, Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Nevertheless, he's healthy now, and that's what matters.
His amazing story has impacted the lives of others as well.
He has, and continues to go to visit and share his story with other kids, younger than him.
They enjoy the encouragement, he enjoys giving it to them.

The most amazing part of his story, may be the timing.
He was in a bad place.
Depressed, suicidal, miserable.
He was desperate.
He prayed that something, anything, would change him.
And the very next day he was diagnosed with cancer.
Cancer?
Why?
Didn't he pray that something would change him?
Cancer.
Looking back, cancer saved his life.
It was just what he needed.
That proves that it's possible for good to come out of the bad.