HOW TO HELP You can help provide for Matt’ s son, Cebran, at gofundme. com / klutkaskrusaders medication and escape; how he was making as much time as possible to spend with his son, Cebran; how he met his girlfriend while he was sick. Then he told me what he had learned.“ The things I used to worry about or obsess over, I know they’ re just meaningless,” he said.“ Time is the most precious currency we have. You never know when your time is up. You have to take advantage of every moment you have with your friends and family and loved ones because that can be taken away in an instant. Everything else can be replaced.” It’ s the kind of thing that’ s a meaningless platitude coming out of anyone else’ s mouth— share bait for Instagram. But coming from Matt, who stopped periodically throughout the call to cough, the tumors in his lungs making it hard to breathe, it punched me in the gut. What bullshit had I been annoyed by or upset about moments before? It was embarrassing to think about. At that moment, I was just thankful I had closed the door to my office. No one had to see that I wasn’ t handling the call very well. I tried to hide it from Matt, but by the time I had fully broken down, it was pointless. I asked if he must be used to it. Yes, he was, but he embraced his role as an inspiration to others.“ My friends have been awesome,” he said.“ They come to visit, and some of them get upset. I just say,‘ Hey, I’ m still here. I still feel pretty good. There’ s no reason to be upset. Let’ s be happy and go do something fun.’ I try to motivate people and make them happy.” A man with terminal cancer cheering everyone else up— including me. I pointed out the absurdity of that, and we had a good laugh. The story I wrote about Matt went into the December 2015 issue of M & F. Given the circumstances, we put the story online first so it could be shared. Dwayne“ The Rock” Johnson, our cover guy and guest editor for December, asked to see some of the other stories that were going into his issue. When he read Matt’ s story, he asked for a phone number. Fifteen minutes later, they were chatting like old friends, swapping war stories about the gym. Right after that, The Rock took to social media to share what an amazing experience he had just had. I knew the feeling. Because at the end of my call with Matt— a man I never met face-to-face— I found myself blurting out,“ I love you, man.” He didn’ t hesitate to say it back. I also told him that I had no clue about what his idea of God might be, but I was certain that we’ d meet one day. He agreed. Matt lived another two months— and what a two months they were. On top of training, he raced Ferraris, went on the sidelines to see the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Alabama Crimson Tide, and spent a lot of time with his son, his girlfriend, and his parents. For those close to Matt, I can’ t imagine how much his passing hurts. But I also know they’ re lucky to have had such an incredible person in their lives. If time is the most precious commodity we have, it was especially true for Matt. He chose to give me a half hour of that time, and my life is far richer for it.
Dwayne Johnson’ s Instagram support of Matt Klutka.