'It Made Us Realize How Precious Life Is': Three Strangers Grant Dying Man's Christmas Wish

Andrea Morris : Dec 18, 2019
CBN News

"It was like we were family already. It was like he had won a million dollars. He was just so happy. He was like, 'You guys are so beautiful.' He kept saying that. He cried. He was so shocked. The same day we went, he got 3,000 cards in the mail." -Earl Minley

[CBN News] Three friends from Wisconsin granted a dying man's wish in a very special way. (Image Credit: ABC News /via CBN News)

Gene Weittenhiller is suffering from stage four pancreatic cancer and doesn't have much time to live. His dying wish was to receive Christmas cards in the mail, WISC-TV reports.

Earl Minley from Milwaukee, heard about Weittenhiller's story and talked to his friends about granting this wish but in a unique way.

Minley and his two friends, Markeith Powell and Marqwain Givhan, bought the Christmas cards but decided to drive to Prairie Du Sac and hand-deliver them.

"We were nervous because we didn't know if he was going to be there or not. We didn't know if we were going to make a blank trip," Givhan said. "But we cared about this man's story so much that we were going to wait out there for an hour or two or three til they came back home. That's how much we wanted to see him smile. That's the truth."

The men drove two hours to the Weittenhillers' front door and were greeted with tears of surprise.

"We got in there, and he immediately hugged us. He hugged us and it was so crazy. It was like we were family already," Minley said. "It was like he had won a million dollars. He was just so happy. He was like, 'You guys are so beautiful.' He kept saying that. He cried. He was so shocked. The same day we went, he got 3,000 cards in the mail."

According to KTRK-TV, the men hugged, prayed and cried together as they shared their stories about suffering and the personal battles they struggle with.

"It made us realize how precious life is. Like, the stuff we are going through is nothing," Givhan said.

Powell wrote on Facebook that everyone is going through something in life, but it can always be worse.

Weittenhiller says Christmas is an important holiday for his family but this year has been difficult with his diagnosis.

"My youngest granddaughter, who is three years old, doesn't grasp that Grandpa W is sick and he isn't able to get on the floor and roll around with me anymore. That's very difficult for me to accept."

Weittenhiller was shocked that the friends took the time to hand-deliver the cards.

"It was an unbelievable experience that tugged at our heartstrings that these three young men had taken the time and the effort to drive over to personally deliver these letters," he said. "They're just three tremendously kind, generous young men. We would love to have them come back."

So the friends drove back to visit on Dec. 15 and even brought an oversized framed picture of the four of them. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

If you'd like to send a Christmas card to Gene Weittenhiller, mail it to the following address: 410 20th Street, Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin 53578.