About a week ago, I learned that one of my colleagues, Rich, had been diagnosed with large-cell lymphoma. That’s a tough thing to hear about a friend of yours, someone you’ve worked with for years and know quite well.
I can only imagine how hard it was for Rich to hear it.
In many ways, Critical Mass is a like a big family. (And it has many of those strange quirks inherent to families, too.) Some have even described us in the past as a “cult”. A cult of what, I’m not sure, but it certainly does lend to the kind of togetherness (and obsession to the work) that we all feel.
So when one of our own gets stricken with anything nasty, you can expect a rallying cry. (It also doesn’t hurt that a few of Rich’s actual family also work for the company.)
There’s a website. T-shirts. Buttons. Donations.
And that’s just from those of us who work with Rich. I’ve heard there’s already a couple of other activities outside of Critical Mass to support him. Wow. This is impressive.
The positive energy is amazing. The fact that the diagnosis was early and (from what we hear) prognosis is good. Still, it’s not an easy thing to lick, and it’s going to be hard on Rich.
To quote the prophets John and Paul: Get by with a little help from your friends.
Go, Rich! GO!
