The Voice of a Pediatric Cancer Patient – Mikey’s Wisdom
Words of Wisdom For Patients and People Who Love Them
by Les Friedman, Mikey’s Dad
Mikey penned the bulk of his writing when he was 16 and 17. Two days after his 15th birthday, Mikey was diagnosed with cancer and began treatment shortly thereafter, so by the time he started writing, he was very well acquainted with the cancer treatment process.
Mikey was a fast learner. He understood cancer, he understood life. Although the youngest in the family, Mikey quickly became an old soul in a young body. He had tremendous insight and wisdom. He had an amazing ability to put into words what so many of us take for granted, don’t appreciate or just plain don’t see. One couldn’t help but be touched by his unparalleled giving nature, his unique sense of humor or his uncanny understanding of life, particularly in the last two or three years of his life.
“A wise teacher once enlightened me to a revolutionary idea in composition.” Mikey wrote, “Eighty percent of good writing is good thinking.” Mikey was a great thinker; hence he was a great writer. He believed that good writing begins with good ideas. “It is not thinking in a straight line, rather in zigzags, in circles, in three dimensions, and in four, in ups, in downs, and in abrupt turnabouts.” he penned. Mikey was a perceptive and profound out-of-the box thinker who thought in multiple dimensions and directions. One need only read a few of his written thoughts to know this to be true.
Mikey’s words serve as a beacon of light for all of us at the Foundation. His words guide our course, help us see again and again what he had envisioned not for himself but for others. His words are worth sharing, giving to others as he had given unto himself. We believe that the Mikey’s Wisdom category of our blog is the perfect venue in which to showcase his wise-beyond-his-years powerful pieces of knowledge inspired by his personal stories, triumphs and insightfulness. We hope that you will find strength, wisdom and inspiration within the words of a very old soul in a very young body.