If I were to get the painful news of a cancer diagnosis, I would no doubt be thinking of finishing up that bucket list. How could I best spend what time God had granted me with family and friends while ticking off those items on the list? Of course, cancer is not necessarily a death sentence these days, but how could one’s mind not go to the finality of it all—at least here on this earth.
Jon McAlpine ‘s mind went so far as to consider taking his own life early. As reported by Steve Hartman with CBS’s On the Road (April 4, 2014), the sixty-year-old former fireman from Omaha contemplated ending it all with a shotgun suicide in a motel room. Why postpone the inevitable? Diagnosed with a rare intestinal cancer, Jon fortunately got some loving advice from his doctor, who convinced him otherwise. Even a terminal cancer diagnosis didn’t have to mean there was no hope for a future.
So would Jon work on checking off that bucket list after all? To the contrary, he decided he would spend his time cheering up others—people with a diagnosis similar to his. Jon became a greeter at the Methodist Hospital Estabrook Cancer Center in Omaha, Nebraska. What could be more welcoming to a cancer patient than a greeting with a big hug from a fellow patient undergoing the same challenges and worries? I cannot imagine how a few words exchanged about their mutual struggles could be more meaningful and heartfelt. As other patients report, his welcome is always warm and uplifting. Jon does this five days a week, even on those days involving his own chemotherapy.
So now Jon doesn’t look at himself as a cancer victim anymore. He has found a purpose: helping others. He wants to be an inspiration for them—so they can hopefully live like him. Indeed, Jon has chosen to Live Love Large his remaining days.
“Love Never Fails”
(1 Corinthians 13:8)