Saint J

This is a little off-topic for this space in a way, but I just wrote to somebody about a friend of mine, and felt moved to share it here, too.

I have this awesome friend, J, whose mother is presently dying of cancer. She's known for about 6 months now, and has about 6 weeks to live. She is on her final round of chemo, and her body has had all it can take. When the chemo stops, so will she.
J has turned into Mother Teresa! Seriously, it's been humbling the living shit out of me, which is why I felt moved to mention it here. He has served her tirelessly, cooking, not minding if she can't eat it, taking care, around the clock, while also holding down a job, paying his mortgage, taking care of his father who is also sick with leukemia, and still managing to be a good friend to the rest of us, never showing anything less than love.

He is radiant. I swear to God, you can see this halo around him. His eyes are about the deepest eyes I have ever seen, like pools of liquid compassion.

Sometimes these things do bring lessons, I know that's a horrible cliche, but in J's case, his heart has blossomed and he has taken on some kind of sainthood in the face of this, the constant pressure and demand to feel and do love, not collapse in the face of his own sense of loss, etc.
And he serves, and serves, and serves some more.
You can see his heartbreak all over his face, and it's the most moving thing in the universe to witness. He is being transformed. It's astounding and amazing, and blowing us all away.