When I was 13 I was diagnosed with malignant brain cancer. I spent 13 weeks in the hospital getting treatment, and my parents had to mortgage the house to pay for it. I spent Christmas in the hospital. When I got out my father had bought me my first Lionel train set, a model Union Pacific line.

It's been fun, and it's been rough. But I feel pretty blessed and pretty fortunate, so I like to make other people happy.

I like to play Santa Claus for people; I like to cheer people up.

There is something about these old people seeing Santa Claus that really cheers them up. This may be the last Christmas for some of them, so I try to give them a good time.

We are excited about offering clinical trials here in Quincy to give patients another option in the treatment of cancer. Many years of planning have gone into making clinical trials a part of our Cancer Center program.

Maria Freidman performed admirably through a diagnosis of breast cancer and its treatment and Michael Ball battled a serious viral infection. As a result of these and other health issues among the company, audiences got to see the entire original cast perform just 31 of the 108 performances played to date since the show's first preview.