Dignity Health | hello Healthy | Summer 2019

HelloHealthy | Summer 2019 7 THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW GREAT GOOD CAN COME FROM GREAT LOSS. It began in early fall 2017, when four lives intersected at a yearly retreat for people who have been touched by cancer. The weekend camp in the Sierra Foothills is hosted by Dignity Health – St. Joseph’s Medical Center. It brings together cancer survivors – some still undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, others cancer-free for decades – for a chance to connect and support each other. Two of those people were a single mother and son: Nicole, 27, terminally ill with advanced pancreatic cancer, and 6-year-old Rudy, her self-appointed protector who was often at her side. The other two were a married couple: Shelly and Jason Winslow, volunteer coordinators of the camp’s youth activities. Jason, in particular, has deep ties to the camp. He has attended it virtually every year for three decades—starting as a young boy when his mother, a breast cancer survivor, first participated. He kept coming back when she graduated to a volunteer. Then he followed her lead. “I grew up here,” Jason says. He formed lifelong friendships with other kids who came every fall. “They became like family to me. This place connects people in deep ways.” But Jason never anticipated the connection he and Shelly would quickly form with Nicole and Rudy. The Winslows are now Rudy’s parents, after adopting him in 2018 with Nicole’s blessing and deep gratitude. A remarkable child As volunteers, both Jason and Shelly had the same first impression of Rudy. “He showed a compassion that is rare for a 6-year-old,” Jason recalls. “That stood out for both of us.” Shelly adds: “If Nicole was trying to walk down the stairs, Rudy would break away from the other kids and rush to help her. I think I fell in love with him instantly, and that love only intensified.” In conversations with fellow camp participants and volunteers, Nicole was open about her terminal illness and her deep need to find a loving home for her only child. She knew no one personally who could step in. And though childless – Shelly has a medical condition that makes a healthy pregnancy unlikely – both she and Jason very much wanted children. In fact, they hoped to adopt one or more kids. Back at home, Shelly, Jason, and Nicole weighed their options. After many thoughtful conversations, they all agreed that Rudy should live with Shelly and Jason, and they began the legal process to make that happen. Nicole lived four more months and died before the adoption was final. But during that short time, the three adults grew incredibly close, a bond cemented by their shared love for Rudy. Nicole told Rudy to call Jason “Dad” and Shelly “Mom.” “You have two moms now,” she said. A new beginning Rudy is no longer an only child. The Winslows adopted a second son, Nathan, and the two boys are inseparable. Last October, as part of the yearly retreat, attendees gathered around a tree planted many years ago to honor and celebrate loved ones. Rudy’s new family watched as he scattered some of his mother’s ashes under the tree. “Rudy knows how much his mother loved this camp and the peace it gave her,” Shelly says. “And I think it gives him tremendous comfort to know she will always be a part of it.” For the of a child An amazing bond brings a happy ending to a sad situation love Rudy’s new family watched as he scattered some of his mother’s ashes under the tree.