It seems perfectly suitable to me to take a moment in this first post to think about the monument which lies in a birthday- especially when you have been faced with the prospects of your own end.

Today is my friend Tim’s birthday.  On this day some fifty-plus years ago he came into this world, a rambunctious, fighting, focused machine of a person (in a purely productive sense) who was also blessed with an agile mind, observant eyes, and a creative bent.  Tim is one of those remarkable people you meet who has packed three lives into one, and who can seemingly do anything- which so far as I think  about him, is pretty true- and yet, just meeting him you might not know that about him. Tim is a gifted photographer, a hellion on a bike, a skilled carpenter and mechanic, a flamenco guitarist, a network administrator, and a web developer, among other things.  Tim is also knowledgeable and constantly learning about a range of subjects, which allows him to interact with friends and strangers alike in an easy, comfortable way.  Tim has survived surgeries and snake bites, cycle crashes and survivalist trainings.  Tim is a pretty good picture of a modern day Renaissance man.

And so, when Tim went to his doctor one day 6 months ago after a night out swing dancing followed by several days of abdominal pain, the result he expected from that visit was a pulled muscle diagnosis.   But it wasn’t.  It turns out grapefruit sized growths in his abdominal cavity were hurting him- and after the weeks of waiting, test results confirmed what was silently feared.  Tim had cancerous lymphomas in his abdomen.  Strong, stolid Tim was sick.

Well, if Tim was sick, he was not going to be easily trounced by tumors.  Always informed and rigorous in personal care, Tim entered chemotherapy determined, and at least externally, undaunted by what his prognosis might be.  True to his focused and fearless demeanor, I saw Tim go week by week through treatments and still keep a regular work schedule.  He lost some weight.  He lost his hair.  He got a little tired.  He lost some work hours.  But he was not intimidated by this illness.  His daily eating regimen included a dramatic increase in the amount of water he drank, as well as fruits and vegetables he ate, along with the addition of daily protein drinks.  Through it all, Tim never let on that he was worried or weary.  But I know he had moments of clarity and concern, where the possibility of the end could be in the near future, and all of the “what if’s” run riot.

Today, Tim’s birthday consisted of sitting at the hospital for a number of hours, being pumped full of poison, in what should be one of his last chemotherapy rounds.  On this birthday, my guess is that Tim may have a little extra gratitude about the place of his life.  About 6 weeks into his treatment, he was given a CAT scan, and his abdominal growths were all but gone.  He is now declared “in remission.”

On this birthday, Tim can again look forward to life, after staring at questions related to dying and death for 6 months.

Happy Birthday, Tim.  we are very glad you will be with us for a long while longer.

We have no control, really, over when we are born.  We also have little control over when or how we die.   But we do have a say in what we do with the in-between: we have a say in how we live.  And we do have a say in for what we live- and for what we value in being alive.

I have another friend who has taken up a neat challenge.  Jennifer lost a beloved uncle this year to cancer, and she treasured him very much- and so she  committed to write something about him daily in a blog for a year.  In doing this, she is not only finding healing from her loss of her uncle, but she is also finding value and meaning in her life from who he was to her while living and dying, and she is celebrating his life- celebrating what he gave to her, celebrating what he meant to her at moments in time, and celebrating the impact he had on her world and in the lives of others around him.  She has committed to spend a year celebrating life.  One life, and all of life.

Tim- today I celebrate your life, and through your experiences, am reminded how valuable each day of our lives is.