Their Stories, Our Purpose
Their Stories,
Our Purpose
Sharing the Journeys of
Those Who Served
Written by Matt Sabo
Manager, Human Experience
We would find and tell the remarkable stories of Veterans and their caregivers — authentic, captivating stories about real Veterans and real people working at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with a heart to help the people who served our country.
Raw, unfiltered. Emotions, surprises, twists and turns, and the highs and lows that mark the human experience. The stories we live to tell and bring to life through what we do in our consulting work as writers, photographers and videographers.
This was our mission, and we were ready to make it happen.
The Veteran
We pulled up to the home of a terminally ill Veteran 100 miles east of the eye of Hurricane Helene just hours before it would make landfall in Florida. The streets on our windswept drive from Orlando and St. Cloud were eerily empty — offices and schools closed as gusts of wind bent the trees and ominous clouds swirled above us.
We didn’t know what the day would hold. We could have bailed on Florida two days earlier when our airlines said we could change our flights to leave ahead of the storm. We all had loved ones who sure thought it best we leave.
But we were here for Mike Becker.
It’s why Producer Emily Stinson, Videographer Sean McCoy, Photographer Igor Nedvaluke, Communications Specialist Claudia Nogueira and I stood outside Mike’s home. We are storytellers and were here in a storm to tell Mike’s story of hope and heartbreak.
Producer Emily Stinson
Photo by Igor Nedvalyuk
The Blues
Sean and Igor set up the cameras and mic in Mike’s living room. As expected, it was a heavy interview because Mike had just entered end-of-life care.
Emily asked the questions and Claudia took notes. I paced in the kitchen, watching Mike talk through his occasional grimace and a few tears as he told his story. He told us how things may have been different if VA had diagnosed and treated him in good time.
He spoke fondly of Orlando VA Medical Center Patient Advocate Greg Donohue, who rallied to his aid. But it was a heavy dose of sadness, anger, despair and grief. We had just met this man. Soon he will be gone. We admired his grit, his love for his country and his love for his wife Lynn and his family.
Communications Specialist Claudia Nogueira
Photo by Igor Nedvalyuk
At the end of the interview, we changed course. We’d heard his story but wanted more of his back story. I sat in front of him and asked him about his love of music as a bass player. Mike closed his eyes and took a trip back in time to a dive bar on the west side of Chicago.
Though he’d played many genres, mostly rock and pop, Mike told us he really enjoyed playing the blues. That was his true music love. “The blues make you get up and move … no rehearsal, just play,” he said. “Play it until it works. When it works, you get goosebumps.”
Manager Matt Sabo
Photo by Igor Nedvalyuk
We all got a laugh and smiles when Lynn pulled out photos from the era and showed us a vintage 1988 video of Mike’s band playing a catchy pop tune titled “Love Is a Lie.” It was all there: the big hair, mullets, angular suits, cheesy graphics, a saxophone, Mike in his denim jeans and a jean jacket jamming on the bass, Lynn dancing in a cameo appearance.
When we left Mike’s house, in honor of him we listened to a “Chicago Blues” playlist on the drive back to Orlando. The first song was “Mannish Boy” by Muddy Waters, known as the father of Chicago blues. “Woooooooh yeah, oh yeah, everything, everything, everything gon’ be alright this morning,” he sang.
The Smile
Two days later I was back home and got a text from Igor while watching my son’s soccer game. Igor caught Mike perfectly in a photo as I had sat across from him.
We were talking music. The blues and how they move you. Lynn and the little neighborhood bar in Chicago where they met. The way she smiled at him, then and now. Love.
It was a long time ago, far from the cancer and the hurricane, and the relentless pain. He was remembering the good times. I didn’t know it at the time, but Mike would pass exactly 35 days after our interview. In that moment, Igor’s text said it all:
“You made him smile.”
Written by Matt Sabo, manager of the Aptive team that visited Florida in late September to support the Veterans Health Administration. The team conducted interviews, filmed and captured photos of Veterans, VHA patient advocates and health care facilities for a marketing initiative.