A Charmed Existence

Spend a couple of minutes with the ol Nutster - and allow me to tell you a story. Let me know if I wasted your time after you finish....I got a couple of sheckels riding that makes me think I'd win the bet that says you will be glad you came.

A few years back - I had an employee transfer to another state. Her husband had gotten a great new job. It just so happened that the transfer would also take her back to her hometown where all of her family was. This included being near her son from a previous marriage who was living with his father.

They sold their house in California - they made a great profit. They were buying in a market where homes where more affordable. The gain on the California property allowed them to buy a dream home....with a lower payment than they had before.

How many transfers work out like that? - now, the story gets better. She called up to let "the ol gang" know that she was now pregnant. This was a miracle because her and her husband really wanted a baby but were told that it wouldn't happen.

Life looks good for her - well, very shortly after the pregnancy was confirmed, she developed a tumor the size of a orange in her breast. It seems that the hormonal change due to the pregnancy had caused the cancerous cells to metastasize out of control. By the time of discovery, the cancer had gone beyond the mammary and had crept into the lymph system.

Once cancer gets out onto the superhighway, the lymph, of your body - the prognosis is usually somewhat grim.

Now, I am told by the female world that pregnancy alone is a bit of a difficult process -"if you men had to have babies, we wouldn't have to worry about the world population,"....yak..yak..yak. Can you imagine fighting for your baby as you fight for your life? The totally rationale approach would have been to terminate the pregnancy so that all of the energies could be devoted to staying alive....

....but not my girl - she was a scrapper when she worked for me....and she was a scrapper now. Despite the recommendations of doctors, she was keeping that baby!!! Somehow, she went through the radiation and chemo while a fetus grew within her (while I wouldn't endorse it, it makes me wonder just how bad cocktails or a smoke really are for a mother....I mean, for goodness sakes, my friend was going through the tar heroin of things that can be done to your body.)

She makes it - and gives birth to the baby. But the prognosis for her remains touch and go. It was at this time that I made a choice to do something.

Despite my limited guitar playing and singing abilities - I wrote a song for her. I went over to a buddies house and we laid the tracks down on a CD. As an added touch, I shaved my head and we took a picture to put on the CD cover. "She is going to crack up when she sees her ol boss bald, " I thought. A good laugh can't hurt someone in such dire circumstances is what I figured.

Here is what I hadn't counted on - she called my office and left me a voice mail. With tears in her voice:

"Nutster, I wanted you to know that I put the CD in the car as soon as it arrived. As I was listening, I had to pull over to the side of the road because I was crying so hard. This was the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me."

Gulp!

She passed on to a better place shortly after that call - can you imagine what she gave to me that day? Can you fathom what it is like to have the honor of receiving that call? While there is so much more I can do in this world, it was almost like anything else would be icing on the cake.

Why do I share this? - it's not to prove that I am a nice guy. I received more credit than I deserved when I got that voice mail so I'm covered in the "atta boy" department.

Remember a few lines back when I talked about my rather limited musical skills? - I had picked up that little "gift" in life by my music "teachers" in choir and band early on as a young lad.

At some point (10 yrs later) - I worked up the courage to plunk down a few bucks and buy a guitar. There was no intention of becoming famous......it was just something that I felt that I needed to do. I was also in my twenties. I ignored the critics and even some people close to me, "what are you gonna do...become a rock star?" was how the sarcasm was dealt I believe

When the opportunity came - people thought that I was crazy to shave my head too. Even someone close to me said, "oh my God...I can't believe you have done this to yourself. And why? Do you think you shaving your head is going to make her better?" Yes, my sanity was now in play...had I lost my mind?

Hey, guilty as charged, I guess - the point is that I used what I had and followed my instinct and put that project together. The result: I have a priceless gift that I will treasure as much as anything that I do or own for the rest of the days that I walk this orb. I truly live a charmed existence.............in this case, I was bigger than a rock star. What did I ever do to earn this?

What do you have to give? - what do you need to develop? Not because you think it is going to make you a lot of money. It may not be for you to know why you need to do it.....it just needs to be done.

The prize for doing so - may be beyond your imagination.

When do you start?

(This post inspired by Tea with McNair ......get over there....now! There are prizes on the table )