I have been reading Tanya Beck's columns on amarillo.com. WOW! What a moving example she presents of someone who lives his life courageously despite tremendous difficulties.
Tanya is the wife of my friend and former co-worker Bruce Beck, who has brain cancer. Bruce wrote the column in the Our Town section of the Globe-News for many years and had a huge following. He is unable to work now, and Tanya has stepped in to keep readers in touch and informed about Bruce.
Even if you don't know Bruce personally, you only have to read these columns to know what an amazing person he is.
Bruce has been battling cancer since June 2008. He has undergone numerous rounds of chemotherapy, and for a while it seemed as if the cancer was in remission. But now the cancer has spread to his brain, and the outlook is not good.
Yet, through it all, Bruce has kept his amazing attitude. He never once has asked why or questioned God. And his faith has not wavered.
In one column, Tanya wrote: "We pray daily for a miracle, if it is God's will. We pray for peace and strength if it is not."
Tanya says as Bruce drifted off to sleep one night, he murmured something that will be embedded in her mind forever. He said: "If God is using me to help other people, then it'll be OK."
That's the kind of person Bruce is. Always giving. Always thinking of others. And he has always had that positive outlook.
I remember when I started working at the Globe-News. I would get very frustrated when I would have more stories that I had to get in the paper and no room to put them. Bruce, in his calm and reassuring voice, would tell me: "Don't look at it as a problem. Think of it as a challenge."
He challenged me to keep trying and never quit. Bruce has that same attitude today. He has vowed to keep fighting ... fighting to live.
If you have missed any of Tanya's columns in the Globe-News, go to amarillo.com. Search for "tanya beck" and read them. You should read Bruce's past columns, too. You will quickly see why we all love him so much.
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