Small twist of fate

Last weekend Pat and I had our 10 year high school reunion. When it came time to fill out my bio-sheet, I talked about graduating from ASU, Pat and of course my kids. I did not mention the fact that I am a 5 year survivor of cancer, Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Although I am very proud of this, you just don't write cancer in your bio-book.

My senior year of high school my locker was right next to Eric's. He was a football player and every Friday the cheerleaders would bring the football players treats. There were many times when Eric would come up to his locker with his hands full and ask me to open it for him. Several times, he gave Jenn and I his cupcakes.

So while Pat and I were chatting away with old friends at the reunion, I saw Eric come in and I wondered if he remembered me. I was talking with some people and someone had mentioned that Eric had had cancer. I was shocked to find out it was Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I was nervous about going up to him. But I walked over and asked if he remembered me. He said he did and I told him that I had Hodgkin's about 6 years ago. We immediately started sharing our experiences. We talked for about half an hour. He has a scar on his neck the same place I do. He had even been into the doctors office where I was treated. It was so nice to talk to someone that had been through it all too. We hugged (several times) and agreed to keep in touch. Meeting him and being able to connect was the best part of the reunion.

The cool thing is Eric is the mascot for the Memphis Grizzlies. He is able to go to the St. Jude's Children's Hospital and talk to kids about cancer and share his experience. I wish Eric all the luck in the world and I dearly hope we keep in contact.

It never ceases to amaze me what a small world it is sometimes...