Vince and the Art of Caring

When Vince Engel was a hospital corspman in the Navy, his supervising doctor asked him to sit with two sailers who were dying of cancer. Just sit with them, talk to them.

He learned a lesson about living with mortality that would last a lifetime. The lesson was especially useful uring the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980's and 90's, when Vince was actively giving lectures and comforting those who were infected.

In the following audio story, we hear that the lesson continues to this day, as Vince reflects on a life forged in the fire of an epidemic, and looks clear-eyed at his own present-day diagnoses.