Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

EDWARDSVILLE — Every person has a story. Some are good, some not so good.

Have you ever sat across from someone you’ve known for years and wondered how they’re dealing with their current situation?

It happened to me. I’ve known Gary Mack for more than half my life. Gary likes basketball, an occasional beer and he loves to play golf. A lot of golf.

A math teacher by profession, the Gary Mack I knew was the consummate bachelor.

Until he met Debbie Shone.

Debbie’s daughter was playing basketball for Wyoming Valley West in February 2007 when she attended a fundraiser. Gary was there. Their eyes met; they were drawn to each other.

After a seven-year courtship, the two were married in June 2014. By Thanksgiving of that year, Debbie was battling cancer.

When I heard the news, my heart sank. When I saw them out, I couldn’t help but notice how they were together, how they managed to laugh at the world when their private world was in such turmoil. I wondered how they were dealing with the situation. So I asked them. What they told me is heartwarming.

Sitting in their living room, Gary said he knew “almost immediately” that Debbie was the girl for him.

Call it what you want but the stars were aligned. It was either love at first sight or fate. Gary and Debbie fell in love. He asked her to marry him in September 2013. She said yes.

“We were just having a conversation,” Debbie said. “We had them before about how he wanted to share the rest of his life with me. But this time was different.”

Different, indeed. The bachelor was soon to be no more.

Gary and Debbie were married before friends and family on June 21, 2014. He was 55 years old; she was 49.

It was a storybook tale bound for a happily ever after.

And then it happened.

Debbie started having “symptoms,” Gary said. She had tingling in her hands. Her lymph nodes would swell. Something was not right.

Debbie was diagnosed with chronic large B-cell lymphoma.

After four to six weeks of chemotherapy, Debbie’s condition seemed to worsen. In March 2015, a more aggressive treatment plan was ordered that included a stem cell transplant and mega-doses of chemotherapy.

It’s been an ordeal, most definitely for Debbie, but also for Gary and for Debbie’s three daughters as well as for family and friends of the newlyweds.

Sitting in their living room Friday with their cat, Spike, close by, Gary and Debbie talked about how this experience has brought them even closer together.

“You really don’t know how to go through something like this,” said Debbie, tears running down her cheeks.

“There’s no manual,” Gary said. “Everybody handles it differently.”

Gary and Debbie told me they have approached it “day by day.” When they wake up every morning, he turns to her and tells her he loves her.

“And then we go about our day,” he said.

Day by day, with uncertainty at their side, Gary and Debbie have persevered. They have learned more about each other than most of us ever will. If anyone could write that manual on how to deal with these situations, it’s Gary and Debbie Mack.

Debbie returned to her job at OBGYN Associates on Monday. She worked a half day. She hopes to soon return to work in her hair salon — AbracaDeborah. Because her immune system is still vulnerable, however, Debbie must avoid crowds.

Getting back to normal is something Gary and Debbie anxiously look forward to.

“But normal will be whatever we decide it will be,” Gary said.

Gary said Debbie’s attitude has always been better than his and the past year has brought many realizations to them.

“We know how intense our love is for each other,” Gary said. “Through this, we learned just how much we love each other.”

Debbie lost her hair during treatment and wears a scarf on her head, admitting she is not a wig person.

Debbie pulled back the scarf and revealed how her hair is growing back.

“By the end of next week, her hair will be longer than mine,” Gary said.

Debbie was scared when first told of her diagnosis.

“Now I focus on the work I need to do to get better,” she said. “That focus takes over for any fear you have.”

And she tries not to think about what could happen.

“You have to stay strong,” Debbie said. “What else can you do?”

The two were at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia last week for follow-up tests; the results will be known this week. They hold on to the hope that doctors seem pleased with Debbie’s recovery so far.

As Gary and Debbie await test results, one thing is for sure. Their love has withstood more than they could have ever imagined.

Timing, it’s said, is everything. Gary the bachelor met his girl at the right time. He and Debbie were right for each other.

It was lasting love — at last.

Bill O’Boyle
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Columnshot-2-2.jpg.optimal.jpgBill O’Boyle

Gary and Debbie Mack of Edwardsville hold hands while they talk about how they are coping with cancer with which Debbie was diagnosed shortly after they were married last year.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_InFocusTheMacks_bob_12.jpg.optimal.jpgGary and Debbie Mack of Edwardsville hold hands while they talk about how they are coping with cancer with which Debbie was diagnosed shortly after they were married last year. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

By Bill O’Boyle

[email protected]

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.