Last night my wife and I received the kind of news that you never want to receive, especially when it comes from a family member that you dearly love and respect. As is custom in our house, Sunday dinners often entail our immediate family (that being my wife and kids) and usually someone else from our family (mom, dad, aunt, uncle, brother, sister-in-law, you get the picture). Last night was no exception, we were accompanied by my wife’s uncle, who happens to live in the next neighborhood over with his wife, my wife’s aunt (she is the sister of my mother-in-law, this part is just purely for reference).

Anyways, after dinner my wife’s uncle pulls her aside and tells her he needs to bend her ear about something. I was not in the kitchen at the time, so I walked in on the conversation mid stream. Tears rolling down my wife’s face, I realize that it must not be good news, and find out that he has cancer. This comes as a complete shock to me (and likewise her) because he seems outwardly very healthy, full of energy and character and always wanting to do more. I will save the details on the rest of the conversation, but we spent quite some time discussing his situation, next steps, etc. In the midst of us discussing his heart wrenching situation, he transitions the conversation into how it is really OK that this is happening, and that he would rather it be him than one of his own kids or even one of ours. He goes on to say that he would gladly lay down and take the pain, suffering, or even ultimate death to save his children or ours from ever having to suffer through one second of what he is going through.

This brought me to tears, not because it was something that I could not believe that he was saying, rather it was because I knew that it was true, and he would not hesitate to give his own life to save one of my children. That is a complete act of selflessness that not everyone would do. I respect, admire, and love her uncle and he proved once again why I feel the way I do about him.

Being completely selfless is something that as a parent, sibling, leader or in our case uncle is something that we should all aspire to. Being a parent, I know that without a shadow of a doubt that I would burden all the pain and suffering so my children would never have to experience one second of it. For leaders, they too should be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to save their staff, company or whatever from the distractions, headaches, or potential pitfalls that may be ahead of them so they need not know of them and can continue on with their lives, their work at making the company be the best that it can be.

Being selfless is something that is extremely easy to understand, but can sometimes be extremely difficult to implement. My wife’s uncle is a living example of how easy it can be to implement, and for that I love him. Whatever the future holds for him and his situation, I will always know that he would walk to the end of the earth for my children, and I am forever thankful for that.

Wally, I am truly grateful that you are in my life and I love you.