In May of 2006 our son-in-law, Jon, was in the U of W Hospital in the final months of his ten year battle with malignant melanoma. \u00a0At the time he was still active duty Coast Guard. \u00a0Someone who had connections to both the Coast Guard and the Seahawks made arrangements for the Seahawks’ then quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck, to come to the hospital for a visit.<\/p>\n
It was supposed to be a half hour photo op. \u00a0It turned into a two hour visit. \u00a0There were photos of course–with Jon, our daughter, and our grandson who was a babe in arms at the time. \u00a0There were also photos with various doctors and nurses. \u00a0Most of the time, however, Matt spent alone in the room with Jon where they talked about sports, family, and faith. \u00a0It was one of the few bright spots in Jon’s last tough months.<\/p>\n
Two years later, shopping at the PX at Fort Lewis (It was still Fort Lewis back then!) my daughter saw that Matt and another Seahawks star were there that afternoon for a fan visit. \u00a0She put Colt on her hip and got in line. \u00a0The handlers went up and down the line saying that this was a photo op only. \u00a0No visiting. \u00a0Get in and get out.<\/p>\n
When it was our daughter’s turn, she stepped forward and said to Matt, “I don’t know if you remember me, but…”<\/p>\n
Matt stood up, hugged her, and said, “Of course, I remember you, and look how your baby has grown!”<\/p>\n
Wow! \u00a0When Matt came to Jon’s hospital room, he wasn’t just going through the motions. \u00a0He didn’t phone it in. \u00a0He was there, present and involved. \u00a0Ever since that visit, our family has owed Matt Hasselbeck a huge debt of gratitude, and we’ve been doing our best to pay it back.<\/p>\n
That’s why, several years ago, when a fan in Bellingham was in such frail condition that she couldn’t make it to a signing, Bill and I set up a separate appointment and spent an hour visiting with her in the lobby of our hotel.<\/p>\n
It’s also why, earlier this fall on the Second Watch tour, Bonnie and I took a detour between signings and spent an hour visiting with a woman named Cindy who was in the final stages of her battle with breast cancer. \u00a0It was an interesting visit, with Bonnie’s Bernese Mountain Dog, Crackerjack, taking up a major amount of floor space in Cindy’s daughter’s family room and with Bella, in full meerkat pose, stalking the daughter’s perplexed parakeet. \u00a0(The cage protected the bird, but I’m afraid the water in the cage came to grief.) \u00a0On Saturday I heard from one of the woman’s friends, telling me that Cindy had lost her battle, but that she had spent the days and weeks after our visit telling her friends all about it.<\/p>\n
By the way, when someone is dealing with cancer, people are often reluctant to visit because they have no idea what to say. \u00a0When we went to visit Cindy, we didn’t talk about the Big C. \u00a0Not once. \u00a0We talked about the dogs; about my books; about the traveling Cindy had done. \u00a0The point is to BE THERE!!!<\/p>\n