By Will Baker Were it my task to award a prize to the most compassionate person I know, it would have to go to a carpenter friend of mine. Not only is this fellow a well-spring of compassion, he has dedicated his life to living in a manner that does no harm to his environment or his fellow human beings. I would be remiss were I to leave it at that. Yesterday was his birthday.
Most people receive birthday cards or a cake on their birthday.
My friend's present was radiation treatment. He has a brain tumor, and the odds are that he will die most probably a very painful death. It has been my unfortunate experience to witness the slow death, by cancer, of two of my closest relatives. I did not come away from these experiences untouched. It is hard to witness a loved one being reduced to a disease-ravaged shell of their former selves without doing some serious thinking.