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Rochester, NY (WHAM) – Many days, Dr. Luis Mendez is helping patients as a dentist.
“As a dentist, a provider, I see a lot of people who need oral care and dental health,” said Mendez, who came with his family from Mexico to train at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
He said he is lucky to be able to help others, but the one person who would really help him was not one of his patients.
“Then they said ‘You need radiation,’ and I came here to the Wilmot Cancer Center,” Harley Bowman said.
Bowman had just met with his doctor about the next steps in his cancer treatment. The meeting ran long and his wife, who was also being treated for cancer, had to leave early.
“So I was sitting here in this great lobby and I had a lot on my mind,” Bowman said. “It was a very exciting and difficult time.”
At that moment something caught his ear.
“I walked up to where I am now, and there was this person in the clearing playing the piano with a mask on his face and it was beautiful music,” Bowman said.
Behind that mask and piano was Mendez.
“When I came here, I missed the piano,” Mendez said. “My living room was empty.”
He started when he was just 12 years old, but he couldn’t bring the piano from Mexico, so he would practice here in the lobby of the Wilmot Cancer Center. And on a day when Bowman needed him most, he found Mendez behind the keys.
“A voice behind me, it was a man,” Bowman said. “He said, ‘Boy, did I need this.’ And when I turned to look, he had tears in his cheeks and I had tears in my eyes.”
“Some people would come up and say, ‘Thank you for the music,’ but maybe I wasn’t fully aware of the effect the music had on the patients,” Mendez said.
The two immediately connected, and Bowman made a surprising offer—a free piano.
“I said ‘Would you like one for free?’ He said, ‘Yeah, do you have one?'” Bowman said. “And I said, ‘I know a lady who has one and wants to give it to someone who would appreciate it.’
Bowman’s friend Lucille had been looking for a good home for her family’s piano.
“I didn’t have a piano at home, I prayed for a piano,” said Mendez. “It was a combination of feelings, like an answer to my prayers, but also excited because now I would be able to play at home.”
Both men’s prayers were answered in different ways.
“He sent me pictures of his little girl playing the piano and learning,” Bowman said. “I found out today that his little son is playing the piano. He still plays here and is still a blessing to people with cancer like me.”
The opportunity resulted in a new friendship and perspective on life’s challenges.
“I’ve learned that it’s important to show your gratitude in some way,” Bowman said.
While he now has a piano at home, Mendez said he still plays the piano at the Wilmot Cancer Center, knowing the patients enjoy it.
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