madcorgi

Twenty-five years ago my good friend Steve contracted throat cancer. Because of a botched diagnosis, it went on unchecked for several months, until one day a huge bulge suddenly appeared on the side of his neck. They ended up removing a bunch of his neck tendons and all the lymph nodes nearby, and carpet bombing him with chemo and radiation for six months. Over that time, we made a couple of midnight trips taking him to the emergency room to handle this or that horrible side-effect, while his wife stayed with their young daughter. During one of those trips, as we sat waiting for a doctor, he mentioned that among his greatest regrets was that he would never live to see his daughter get married. Sitting there with him, a scarecrow who got up to vomit blood every few minutes, I didn't even bother to argue.

Today, we watched Steve give that same daughter over in marriage. It was a really special moment, and certainly one I never expected see. The path has been tough--over the years he has lost the ability to eat (he uses a tube) and most of the ability to speak, because so many of the muscles used to form speech were nuked.

So another friend read the toast that Steve had written. And we all clapped and hollered like mad.

Steve 1. Cancer 0.