Would you know what to say if a friend told you about their breast cancer diagnosis? Jacob Soo first encountered a moment like this two decades ago. He was just 18 then.
A church volunteer, he was close to a young family that had just lost their father to lung cancer. Shortly after, the mother told him privately about her breast cancer diagnosis. Her two young children were then both under 10.
Soo was at a loss for words. And as a young man, he knew little about the disease. However, he sensed her deep fear, not just for herself, but for her children who would be orphaned if she too succumbed to cancer.
So he did the only thing he could at that point. He listened. “I became that invisible sounding board for her to share whatever she was fearful of,” Soo recalled.
