His Biggest Challenge
The Positive Side recently sat down with Jerry Zimmerle on September 23rd. 2020 who is currently facing Liver Cancer
It is hard to image living a positive life, when you were surrounded with negativity. I recently had the honor of sitting down with Jerry Zimmerle, says David Jacobs of The Positive Side and was honored to have Jerry change my mind. By no means did Jerry want to dwell on the past. It was very clear from the moment we sat down that Jerry wasn’t looking in the past or even feeling sorry for himself. After all, it wasn’t the fact Jerry had to hide when he was growing up so he would stand clear of his step-father, or the fact when he was a young adolescent who ended up with the wrong crowd. His greatest challenge was at the tender age of 55. Last November, Jerry was diagnosed with aggressive Liver Cancer and without a transplant soon, his chances are 11-23% survival. So Jerry decided to focus on the possibility of receiving a transplant soon and making those odds go to 80% survival rate, a number that sits better with Jerry. Jerry always tries to stay positive, he believes what is written above his bed: There is only two ways to live your life: Either everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle. So the answer to the original question, how do you live a positive life when you were brought up negative? To Jerry, that comes from his belief in God and at 27 he had an epiphany o about his life. He decided it was time to be a man, act like a man and do the right thing moving forward. According to Jerry, he didn’t need to look in the past because he was only moving forward. At 27, Jerry admitted he didn’t know how he was going to make it, but was determined to try. After getting his first real job, he started feeling good about his new outlook on life. He did say “Dave, I admit I had to fake it until I make it approach” because nobody in my life showed me. He knew he loved people so much and became active in the community to stay positive. He also went to work everyday and just smiled. Jerry went on to say, it felt like fraud because he knew he wasn’t this positive. As time went on and life was starting to fall into place, Jerry realized feeling positive and a belief in God was definitely putting him on the path he wanted out of life. I had the feeling while talking with Jerry, that 27 year old must have had a sense to prepare him for life and his current battle with Liver Cancer. Jerry has an upcoming wedding date with his new bride October 3rd. 2020 in their backyard treehouse built for the family. The very next day their honeymoon consists of checking into the Mayo Clinic and being positive, they are going to beat this.
“My fiancé is the love of my life and together Carissa and I are raising two beautiful children, a 9 year old son and a 12 year old daughter.” said Jerry. Jerry had raised four other beautiful children prior to meeting Carissa. To this day, he asked himself what she sees in him, but am blessed beyond that she does love Jerry. She told him “when your joy, is someone else joy”. With those words Jerry know she loves him and being around the kids. Carissa always reminds Jerry not to feel sorry for yourself and always believed you get up everyday and do your job.
Together that combination works and Jerry believes there is no mountain high enough not to climb and believe liver cancer has given him the chance to pause life and reflect. None of us know when our exact time is up and Jerry is taking advantage of the fact that his might be sooner than later.
Jerry started reflecting on all the good in his life and want to go back and thank my is younger self that at the age of 27, he knew he had to change. So in a way, God gave him a pause button to stop and reflect on life. Carissa and Jerry spend their current days planning the futher and staying busy home schooling the kids. They even help out with some neighbors and give them the same loving atmosphere as we give our own.
