I was feeling apathetic after my dear friend for 35 years died from cancer. A lot of memories came to my mind… memories from my teenage years when we met. She was always smiling, full of life, with a lot of projects and a lot of energy to achieve them.
I talked to her few days before she died; she was still fighting against the cancer that had been attacking her for over 3 years. She laughed so much that I thought she was winning the battle. Days later, her sister wrote to me and told me that Fanny had died that morning. Why? Why if I spoke with her and she seemed fine. She was full of joy on that last phone call… I could not understand why she died...
Two weeks later I read “Zig-zagging: Loving Madly, Losing Badly How Ziggy Saved My Life” a Memoir by Tom Wilson II, For some reason this book had two things that interested me:
1.- To be able to deal with the death (from cancer) of a dear person.
2.- I wanted to know who was behind this character ZIGGY. Was the cartoonist the same as the cartoon?
I was like an eager person in front of a buffet. I wanted to know the answers on how to deal with cancer. I read the book in 5 hours, not only because I wanted to know, but because the way that it is written. It feels like I am the copilot of Tom Wilson while he is driving and telling me the story.
I thought that Tom Wilson II was a crazy teenager who at some point inherited his dad business; little did I know his story…
Trying to find the answers, the first chapter changed everything. Little Tom narrated the story of the bond he and his father had. Reading that chapter was the beginning of my comprehension on many things in my life.
That magic night when he went downstairs to his house basement and discovered his dad drawing Ziggy while he was watching him from the storage room where he was hiding. Most amazing than that, was the morning after, when his dad held his hand and took him downstairs where little Tom had his own space to join his dad while he was working.
After that day, little Tom was the companionship of his dad during the creating hours. They used to have breakfast on the weekends playing a game in which Tom’s dad challenged him to get out or solve situations in which Ziggy was involved.
My first thought after I read how they were together sharing a passion, was:
“Why didn’t I have a dad like that?”
When I was a little girl, I could not fall asleep like my sisters and brothers. I was up very late and sometimes I was playing cards with my mom while she was waiting for my dad. We didn’t see my dad very much because he was working all the time, and some weekends, my parents took us to their friend’s house where my dad used to play dominoes.
I was always conscious about what was going on. I still remember the phone number we had in México back in 1971. I remember my elementary teacher’s names and some of the students of my classroom. I remember what I was doing and how I was feeling before I received my diploma on the 3rd. year. Yes, I remember a lot of things… but my dad was not around much.
I kept reading Zig-zagging until I finally got to the chapter where Tom dealt with the death of his loving wife. There, I learned that not only she was an incredible woman, but also a loving and supportive one. Yes, there was the answer… God was hiring qualified angels and she applied early, as well as my dear friend Fanny.
With Tom’s story, I learned that those who have cancer, sometimes have more faith than the ones around them. They smile more, and live their lives deeply more than the ones that don’t know that maybe tomorrow we are not going to be here with our love ones.
That gave me the courage to make an effort and stop feeling apathetic, but at the same time, I felt the great love between Tom and Susan Wilson.
Days later I reread the book, finding some more incredible stories. But the one that keeps going in my mind is the bond between Tom I and Tom II.
Since I was a little girl, I always confronted my dad. I was the rebel of the family. I think that my dad could not handle me and at the end, he stop trying to reason with me, because as a good Scorpio I debate to have a point.
Last week Tom Wilson posted a blog on myspace, this was part of the first chapter of his book. Again, the memories of my dad came to me but now in a different way.
The first time I read that part, and I asked myself: “Why I didn’t have a dad like Tom Wilson”. It was selfish thinking that I wanted something when my dad didn’t have a father. My dad was 4 years old when his dad died. My dad didn’t have someone to fight with, but the worst is that he didn’t have someone to hug or to hold his hand.
I can only feel at this moment that my dad was probably always searching for a father’s love because his mom never remarried and she worked to support her two boys (my uncle and my dad). Now I am wondering about him as a little boy… and he probably got home after school and nobody was there. Was he expected the weekends with joy? My dad never owned a house, why? Probably because all his life he felt he was an orphan. Feeling like that, must be worst than not owning a house. Many, many thoughts are coming to my mind and I have been crying on and off for several days now. I miss my dad.
So, to think about Tom Wilson’s life was saved by Ziggy, I have to ask a question? Wasn’t little Tom who gave the energy to his dad to keep drawing Ziggy? Isn’t the most amazing thing that our kids love what we do? What would have happened if little Tom was not interested in his dad’s drawings and if he hasn’t wanted to spend time on the weekends with him?
Probably little Tom gave life to Ziggy and now was payback time for Ziggy to do the same.
With Tom Wilson’s incredible story, I went deep down my thoughts and understood a lot of things that were not obvious to me even when I try to live in a conscious mood. I feel compassion and love for my dad. I wish I could have found something that would have made my dad believe in his dreams and helped him create his “own Ziggy”.
Tom Wilson, thank you for sharing your life and for giving me something beyond what I was expecting in your book.
Probably Ziggy is not saving my life, but he is saving the love I have for my dad.
