Annual Report: Bohdan’s Story

“One thing became evidently clear during my stay at Caring House. Life is a gift.”

As a teacher, Bohdan admits he had a long time to think about life. However, it was not until he was told he may only have 3 to 6 months left to live that the question of what life is all about truly came into focus.

Bohdan’s battle with cancer started at the age of 80. As he began traveling back and forth to Duke Cancer Institute for treatment, he discovered Caring House. While he was thankful to find a safe place to rest his head at night, he soon realized he had found something much more - a supportive community. By being surrounded by others in a similar situation, all using their knowledge, feelings and beliefs to search for their own form of “answers,” Bohdan found a “home away from home” during a difficult time in his life. As a result, he says it was Caring House that helped him begin to answer his initial question. He realized that no matter who you are or where you come from, life is a powerful gift. “It’s my parents’ gift of life that gave me the opportunity to witness the beauty, splendor, richness, expansiveness and complexity of the universe and the love of the Creator.”

In addition to Caring House, he found two books to help him along his journey. The first one being the Holy Bible and the second one, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. Bohdan shares that the Little Prince also learned a similar lesson: “One only sees clearly with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” For Bohdan, this deeply resonated with his own personal experience. May we all carry this sense of awareness in our hearts as we walk through our own individual paths.