“When I first got the news it took the wind out of my sails but it makes you look inside and re-evaluate yourself and what you are looking to get out of life. They give me one year to live if I did nothing but I want more than one year. Now I’m looking at my life as a lifetime. I’m hoping to get another 20 at least.”

In 2017, Chuck was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He went in for a physical and the doctor recommended he get some extra tests done though he was hesitant to follow through because he felt completely healthy. After a few months, the doctor recommended Chuck take tests to determine if he did have cancer or not and he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was very shocked initially because he had felt healthy and was physically active, but as time has gone on one of the lessons he has learned is that cancer can affect anyone. After several rounds of chemo and medicine, he was cancer free for a while but it came back a few years later. When this first happened he decided to continue on his medication but now he plans to keep doing tests to get to the root of the cancer so he has the best chance to beat it. Some of the things that kept him going when he was feeling depressed as he went through treatment were the support of his friends and family, and simple signs that everything would be okay. When the cancer first came back he remembered a girl he had met who had recently died and went towards her house and despite his sadness, when he looked up at the beautiful sunset, he saw her face in the clouds and took that as a sign that things would turn out alright. His advice to people now is to listen to their doctors and always try to get to the root of the problem. Since his journey through cancer--which still continues--he appreciates the little things in life that give him joy and inspire him to keep living and accomplishing things each day.