Waterford — They will gather today at Filomena's not merely to honor a man, but his calling. And Chip Jessuck's 51 years with us so far have been the best validation yet of Ziggy Marley's line, "people treat you according to the energy of what you put out there."

Indeed.

Chip Jessuck, whose vocations include volunteer coach, Board of Finance Member and Waterford's Everyman, will discover today — if he hasn't already — that all the times and moments in our lives eventually come around again, perhaps to form a balance, perhaps to illustrate that life imparts answers at its own pace.

The town will gather at its favorite gathering place to fundraise for Jessuck, husband and father of five, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer during the summer. A pasta dinner, raffle, a few lemonades and a night of laughs will not only help offset the family's medical bills but show all of us the riches of the good life lived.

Chip Jessuck has been there for everyone else.

Now they'll be there for him.

"When you touch as many people as Chip has," friend (and Waterford police chief) Brett Mahoney was saying Saturday, "people just don't forget those things. He's been a coach. Board of Finance. Police liaison to the Board of Finance. Husband. Dad. Chip is a level-headed person who is always helping people who need it. Now he needs the help. And people will be there for him."

Mahoney might have, even if unwittingly, found the answer to why something so serious would happen to someone so honorable. Maybe it's here: Chip Jessuck is always helping people who need it. Maybe here, Jessuck shows us all how the rest of the world responds to the concepts of humanity, decency and selflessness.

Because let's face it: We all have our stuff. And if you happen to be going through something difficult, maybe you've noticed how the rest of the world is treating you. Is it with respect and care? Or with empty words and fake gestures? Do you feel supported or abandoned? It all goes back to how all the times and moments in your life eventually come around again.

And maybe from this day forward, we can all learn from a guy like Jessuck. How you treat people counts.

Jessuck's wife, Christina, said, "the prognosis is good, but the road is long." She said chemo treatments will end next month before a brief respite and then stomach surgery. Her husband will get a new stomach recreated from his small intestine.

"He's getting a new stomach for Christmas," Christina said, managing a sense of humor through the process.

Christina Jessuck was asked if she's pondered the "why" question. She chuckled.

"A lot," she said.

Has she managed any epiphanies through trying to support her husband, work and raise five kids?

"I went through a very angry stage," she said. "I lost my first husband. My first thought when I learned about Chip's cancer was 'are you kidding me?' But once I learned that things are going to be OK and we'd get through this, I started thinking.

"The strength of our family, the seven of us in the house, has grown. We are stronger, no doubt. And it's rolled out through the rest of our extended family. To have that support, I can't put it into words. The best thing to come out of all this? We have a stronger family."

The pasta dinner begins at 5. It'll be rainy and we'll all need something to do anyway. Pats-Browns will be on in the bar. So, there's no excuse not to show up for a guy with steadfast loyalty to an entire town.

But if you can't make it, maybe you at least ponder the lesson Chip Jessuck's story teaches us: It all comes around again. Always. As is written in Galatians 9: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro