How many of you enjoy working for your boss or look forward to seeing them? I can honestly say I’m blessed in that regard. In all the time I’ve known Rudy, not once has he lost his temper, been unfair, or allowed the stresses of life and work to sour his attitude. Even after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, he still comes into work every day with a smile on his face and a sense of humor that makes everyone laugh.

Over the past 6 months, Rudy has been in and out of the hospital and doctor’s office trying to figure out what’s causing his health issues. In early September, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I’m sure you can imagine how difficult it was for him to go home and inform his wife of 26 years and their 3 children that he was facing a potentially life-threatening illness.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, he also missed so much time at work just getting diagnosed that he completely depleted his sick and vacation time. I’m sure you all know the struggle involved in making ends meet each month when you’re healthy, but how does a person support their family or buy food for their kids when they’re too sick to work or get out of bed?

For those of you that know Rudy, you already understand he’s the kind of guy you would want in your lifeboat. For those of you that don’t know him, I hope you can take my word for it when I tell you the world is a better place because he is in it. He proudly served his country in Desert Storm and fought for the freedom that each of us enjoy. Now he needs our help. Rudy deserves our support and so does his family. He has touched so many lives in a positive way that after hearing about his diagnosis, multiple coworkers got together and donated their vacation time to him in an effort to relieve some of the stress from his situation, allowing him to concentrate on the fight ahead. The additional time is greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your help, but the fight isn’t over yet. Looking at the treatment options and recovery time needed for Rudy to get through this horrible situation, he is going to need more than just our emotional support. Most of us have been in that horrible situation, hearing about a friend’s struggle or loss. We all get that lump in our throat as our minds race trying to find supportive words to let them know we care. A lot of us will even offer support, hoping the person will tell us how we can help. We’ve all said it before, “let me know if there’s anything I can do…” Here is something you can do right now to help a father of 3, a Veteran, and a good friend. He will need our financial support to make ends meet.

I hope each of you can find it in your heart to help a friend in need with what you have available, and if nothing else, we can all give our prayers to Rudy and his family in this time of need.