And old teacher teaches new lessons

Waaaaaay back in my middle school years, I was taught by a man named John Near. He was a great teacher--taught me my first lesson on stocks, showed me how cool the covers of magazines could be as artwork (something I mimicked on the walls of my dorm room many years later), and generally asked me to reach, reach, reach! Though my journal of those years mentions him often, it has been decades since I have really thought about him.

Through the miracle of facebook, I reconnected with some of the alumni of Harker--that school he taught at for so many years....and through them, I found out that Mr. Near had been diagnosed with cancer. He has blogged his entire experience--from diagnosis through to "the end".....I have decided to cut and paste an entry he made just a few short days ago--because it is an important message.....

So many times we have heard the counsel to not wait until tomorrow to love your family....to DO that act of charity we are just meaning to do.....to not put things off. We know this! And, we have heard from the mouths of those who don't have that time their urgings to do this " on behalf of them"....

.............yet, so many of us still are not hearing.

I sincerely appreciate the words of John Near in the passages to follow--not only for these heart-filled urgings to us once again---but for his words of gratitude to all who have shared with them validation for the life he HAS lived. Truly touched by these remarks, it reminded me that we have an obligation toward each other to sincerely appreciate and validate the good life choices of those around us as much as we need to make the most of our own lives. Just as we do not know when our own lives will come to an end--we do not know when our loved-ones will leave this earth.

In Mr. Near's honor, I want to single out 5 people this week that I really do appreciate and find remarkable, and TELL THEM.

How about you, too?? What would the world look like if we really did show gratitude toward the GOOD, rather than idolism toward the fameous? Maybe, just maybe--a bit more like heaven.

Thank you Mr. Near!

Thursday, August 13, 2009 11:59 AM, CDT

Hi everyone,

Well, this is the most difficult post I'll ever have to make. I know my recent posts have shown me making positive steps. And, while I'd like to tell many of you personally, it just isn't feasible so we'll have to use this forum.

Things changed dramatically yesterday. Those who know me well know that I like to get to the point. So, simply put, I'm dying. All metastatic cancer patients know that for the vast majority of us death is not a question of if but when. At some point chemo starts to do more harm than good and I've reached that point. We started chemo again last week and that is why I'm in the hospital now. This news led to the question of how much time do I have left and, unfortunately, the answer was a few weeks, maybe a month or two.

Pam, Casey and I have known this day was coming but it came much sooner than we thought. We are doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances.

When I'm released from the hospital, I plan to do as much as I can while I can. I'm going to try to go the faculty dinner next Thursday and we are going to be hosting an informal open house at our home Sat., Aug. 22 from 12:00 to 5:00 for any of you who like to come by to see me - and each other - to share stories, love and hugs. Our address is 1860 Market St. in Santa Clara.

Finally I want to again thank you all for your support. It has sustained me, but more importantly it has helped validate my life. We all want to make a difference, and while I've always known I have, the many postings here have just confirmed my life choice. I've done what I absolutely love for 31 years and have had an impact on many people. I also love the fact that our family didn't wait until later to have wonderful life experiences. Because, as we've learned, you may not make to retirement years and you can't just say, "well, I'll do it later." One of our favorite places is Italy. On one of our trips we met and got to know a family in Pisa. One of the first things we talked about was the difference between Americans and Italians. They said, Americans live to work while we work to live. More of us need to adopt that approach.

Hope to see many of you in the next few weeks.

Love to you all,
John