One busy fall afternoon, as I sat doing paperwork at the Wisconsin Athletic Club (WAC), I overheard a club member who was spending time directly outside of my office. He was engaging with other club members and our club employees. At one point, he even peeked into my office to say, “Hello.” I looked up and responded, “Hello,” but I kept working on my day-to-day operational tasks.

Thinking for a moment about his extremely high amount of energy and positivity, I couldn’t help but to get up and introduce myself to him. I learned that his name was Joe Torcivia. After talking with him and getting to know him for a few minutes, I praised his high spirits and positive outlook. He then told me quietly that on February 18th, 2012, he had suffered a grand mal seizure. Soon after, he had been diagnosed with stage 3 astrocytoma or terminal brain cancer.