[Jackie07]

I've been having so many surgeries and job losses, I never could go visit others as I had hoped to after recovering.

In our small local Chinese congregation there was one senior lady who was undergoing lung cancer treatment while I was active there. I played piano (was the only person at the time that had had any piano lessons) and helped do translations during the sermon (from English to Chinese, from Cantonese to Mandarin) for our guest speakers. We have pot-luck luncheon after the service every Sunday, and I was not only exempt from bringing cooked meal, I always got the left-overs to take home.

Not until the elderly lady (78?) passed away (2005?) was I told (by her two daughters) how much encouragement she had felt just by seeing me stay active, happy, and positive about life. She had been given 6 months for late stage lung cancer, but lived 3 more years after getting 2nd opinion and treatments at MD Anderson. I played piano for her funeral and felt that God had been preparing me for everything that I would be facing in my life.

Whenever I am waiting for my appointment in the hospital/clinic, I would always try to start a conversation with either a patient who's by herself or weary family members. Most people would get a boost when I showed them the huge scar on my head (I had earned the badge of honor 19 years ago after a marathon 23-hour surgery)and told them how I had gone through chemos without much trouble. (A good 'side effect' of having cognitive deficit after brain surgery - I generally am able to (choose to) remember only pleasant experiences.

And I always felt very happy whenever someone on this Board communicates directly/indirectly with me . To a person who has been 'happily'struggling (never quite aware of those 'struggles' because of my weak 'short-term memory' ) to stay alive since her premature birth, every day is a great day! Life is always beautiful!