Jon Lester revealed that not only did he have cancer, but his father as well. This time, however, it's a bit more serious.
"It's something he will die with, not die from" said Lester. He was diagnosed with lymphoma last month, and is undergoing treatment. The story was kept solely between the Lesters and manager Terry Francona, but Jon wanted to get it off his chest.
Here's the amazing thing about this story: the morale of this family and the attitude they carry is absolutely incredible. There is only a positive outlook from all of them. Here are a few quotes that I find incredibly telling:
"He's (Mr. Lester) telling everyone ... like he won a prize," Jon Lester said. "It makes him feel better to sit there and talk about it. He can tell people, you know what, I have cancer, I'm doing great, everything is going to be good."
"He didn't know that you could do the things that you want to do with the disease and still live a normal life while you have it. ... I think that gave him a positive outlook," Lester said.
(when talking about his new figure as a role model)
"It's weird, it definitely is," Lester said. "Like I've said before, it's not my personality to take credit for anything and to do that," Lester said. "When people come up to me and say you're an inspiration or you've helped me get through this, it means a lot to me but they may not get the reaction they want. But like I said I'm learning how to deal with it."
What an amazing kid. I look up to him more than any other single person in baseball, absolutely. Never though I'd say that about a member of the Red Sox, but when it comes to a story like this, party lines go completely out the window (unless you're BronxBombers of course )