I am sending out a huge "thank you" to everyone who has helped myself and my wife Debbie through such a difficult time. Until Aug. 3, I was working 12-hour days running my business, and as far as I knew was in perfect health. After having off and on bad headaches for two weeks, I was diagnosed with stage 4 brain and lung cancer with anywhere from one to three years to live — if surgery and treatment went well.

Instantly I had my income cut off, and I won't get SSD until March of next year. Then our great friends, Ben and Geri Osburn, with a lot of help from Ben Jr. (my best friend growing up) and his lovely wife Dawn, did all the research, set us up a trust account at Rabobank in Lodi and put a letter in the Lodi News-Sentinel.