Bob is dead

A few months later, Bob was driving to work when he
noticed something wasn't right. It was a warm day, and
when Bob reached back to wipe the sweat from his neck,
he felt a lump. The next time his parents visited him,
they saw a "huge mass" coming out of his neck. They
made him go to the doctor. The doctor ran some tests
and found Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer.
Without saying anything to anyone in Kent, Bob packed
up and moved home with his parents in Cortland to
begin treatment. He was scared because he'd already
had two friends die from cancer. Bob asked the doctor
what had caused the cancer; the doctor didn't know.
Some holistic friends told him he'd run himself down
and had "shot" his immune system.

During his treatments, Bob often visited his friend
Carla, whose sister died from cancer.

"Bobby was very sick," Carla said. "He told me my
house was the only place he felt comfortable. My kids
would make fun of him and laugh at him. They were
taller than him. We would all get him laughing until
it hurt too much for him."

The treatments progressed well, but it was rumored in
Kent that Bob was dead. One night before Bob made it
back to Kent, his brother was listening to a radio
program called "Dial-A-Date." A female caller was
asking a male caller what he enjoyed doing.

"Well," the man said, "I like to go to Kent on Friday
or Saturday because there's this guy out there on this
corner that sells the best gyros. But he hasn't been
there, and I don't know where the hell he's at."
Bob was amused, and after he finished chemotherapy
treatments, he decided to go back to business, getting
a vending trailer to replace his cart.

Bob was welcomed back to Kent with enthusiasm from all
but one: a local merchant who had complained at the
city council meeting.

 "He looked like he had seen a ghost," Bob said,
laughing. "It was beautiful. It was priceless. He was
literally snapping his crayons on the sidewalk, and I
knew what was going through his mind. 'Where is this
guy getting his money?'

"After I bought the trailer I think they figured,
'He's here to stay. We tried to get rid of him. The
cancer didn't kill him.' I think it was one of those
things. 'The hell with it,' and they gave up."

At 4 a.m., after his first night back in Kent, Bob
went to his parents' home. His parents had thought he
was crazy and was going to get into trouble when he
first started gyro vending. Bob had told his dad,
Charlie Tanner, that if he made it through the cancer
he would "see money roll." So he took the moneybag
from the evening's sales and dumped it on the table
where his father sat every morning. Then he went to
bed.

"What did you think of that?" Bob asked his father
the next morning.

"Bob," Charlie said, "I knew you were paying your
rent and were supporting yourself, but I didn't have
any damn idea."

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