The Cancer

I knew a man who was very humble. I will call him John (not his real name). I never saw him lose his temper, snap at anyone, or be in a bad mood. Later in life he was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer. Eventually John went to live with another friend of mine I’ll call Fred (also not his real name). Fred knew John many years before he had cancer and would say the same thing about him; John was humble, kind, never had a bad thing to say about anyone.

Fred said that there were days that John would be very short tempered. He would snap at Fred and be unpleasant to be around. Fred realized that there was another force he couldn’t see acting within John and causing John to act differently. Because of the cancer, John was in constant pain; had very little sleep; and didn’t eat much. Those who knew John would readily agree, “This is not John”.