All of us have "stuff" to deal with — maybe a troubled relationship or confusion about a career, financial challenges, a household dilemma or serious illness. "All of us have stuff," Milton Kent said, as he spoke to friends and family who gathered at his alma mater in College Park Saturday to celebrate his five years of survival. Milton's "stuff" was cancer, and he and his wife, Glenda — pictured above in both the slide show and seated at a table at the University of Maryland's Stamp Student Union — held a reception of thanksgiving. A more grateful fellow we might never meet, and I count Milton among the finer men it has been a privilege to know in this life — pleasant and positive, wise in his commentaries on sports and life, a thoughtful journalist and teacher, and, for a brief shining moment a few months ago, a convincing stage actor. (I recruited Milton for roles in my second play, "Baltimore Docket," and despite expressed reservations and last-minute jitters, he pulled off his parts beautifully.)
All of us have "stuff," that's for sure. I still, quietly each day, deal with a cancer tragedy in my family that came fast and furious, out of nowhere, two years ago. It fills me with sorrow, but it also pushes me to go on and on, savoring each sunrise, each laugh, each golden moment, each expression of fellowship and love that comes my way. Milton thanked doctors and nurses, his brother and wife and an array of people who supported him through his "stuff."
He finished with an expression of love, a recording of Stevie Wonder singing, in concert in Baltimore, a song entitled "As." It includes these words:
As today I know I'm living but tomorrow
Could make me the past
But that I mustn't fear
For I'll know deep in my mind
The love of me I've left behind
'Cause I'll be loving you always
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