6 skills I retain after 11 treatments of Chemo:

1. Putting on or taking off a turtleneck without losing the toothpick in my mouth.

2. Driving a car with my knees under the steering wheel. (On private farm property. Chemo pain meds keep me off public roads.)

3. Sleeping in any position: prone, supine, curled, sitting.

4. Writing light verse, and sometimes poetry.

5. Helping folks laugh.

6. Praying.

• Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, April 13, 2016