I arrived early at the Common Roots Café for the March Jack’s event, Nintendo Switch Boot Camp. Kyle was setting up. 

Alan was there as well and remembered me from a previous Jack's event. Nice. I must really make an impression, I thought, not knowing if it was good or bad.

Kyle started by introducing himself. He told us about Jack, a man who had ‘cut through it’ so many years earlier with his inspiring message of ‘Serving the Caregiver.' This was the mission of Jack’s Caregiver Coalition. This was why Kyle was here, and he served us well that afternoon.

He then introduced Merrick, his son, and our instructor.  He wore camo and shades. He had his work cut out for him today. His mission: to teach a bunch of old, video-game challenged guys how to play Switch MarioKart.

​By the time Tracy was tested for multiple myeloma, we were months into utter panic. Her back pain was worsening and several weeks before she had cracked something in her back when standing up at our son’s baseball game. She drove herself to the ER and was given pain killers and told it was a muscle cramp. The next morning, she fell on the kitchen floor and I couldn’t pick her up.

When the diagnosis finally came, I was in a fog of denial and panic.

​When friends and family hear the news - they will almost immediately want to help.  This is great, of course, because we all need help. But it's often difficult to figure out what help we need - and for the helper, how best to help.  Without any guidance though, your family and friends may choose something on their own and their version of 'help' might not be what you want or need.

Dear friends,
 
I'm excited to announce that I've gone to work for Jack's full time, continuing to lead the organization as I have since 2014 when we were founded.  It's my hope this news will further inspire all of you that have joined us in our mission, we want you all to know how serious Jack's is.  Our mission is no longer just something we work on during nights and weekends or when it's "convenient."  It's something we're always working on.
 
Our recent "Extreme Sandbox" program in October is a perfect reminder of why we exist.  We had the privilege of bringing a group of men together who've collectively had decades of experience caring for their loved ones with cancer.  A group of men who haven't, until Jack's came along, had a community for them.  Jack's understands what the powerless frustration caused by losing control to cancer does to a man.  So we gave these men the controls of powerful machines and challenged them to annihilate the "Cancer Car".  They didn't disappoint!  What we do is simple really - our hospitality brings these men together, and together they improve.