Hi Do Good Crew,
Some people respond to the worst news of their life by going quiet.
Vincent Serritella responded by picking up a paintbrush.
This week, you'll meet an artist living with brain cancer who is painting portraits of every person helping him survive – not to cope, but to say thank you.
You'll also hear from a woman who has built a full, intentional life alongside her husband's stage 4 diagnosis, and has a lesson for all of us about perspective.
Plus, a tiny dog named Timmy who refused to give up, and two frequent flyers who decided a box of grocery cards was the least they could do.
Because sometimes gratitude isn't something you feel. It's something you make.
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Let's get into it.
With gratitude,
David
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Courtesy: Vincent Serritella
Portraits Of Care
I want to spotlight an amazing artist named Vincent Serritella, who has turned a debilitating brain cancer diagnosis into a wellspring of creativity – a project that is just not therapeutic for him, but honors the people who are dedicating their time, money, and expertise to his survival.
That outpouring of love moved Vincent – a painter who has had multiple gallery showings and was an animator with stints at Pixar and Sony Pictures Animation – to show his gratitude in the only way he knew “how to express something that was almost impossible to articulate”: his art.
The Heart
Knowing that he could be on borrowed time, Vincent set out to thank “the community that came out to really put me on the right path to recovery” with a new project called The Human Infrastructure – portraits of the family, friends, neighbors, and medical professionals that have helped him during his ordeal. That could’ve been anything from brain surgery to doing household chores. No task was too small for recognition. The paintings represent a collage of the collective effort it takes to care for one person.
In Vincent’s own words, that includes:
Dr. Zhang (neurosurgeon – portrait below): “Dr. Michael Zhang is the neurosurgeon who delivered my diagnosis to me and my wife – and ultimately saved my life by performing a successful resection. What made his studio visit even more surreal is that just four months ago, he was standing over me in an operating room, looking inside my skull - and now here I am, painting his portrait. I was deeply moved by his willingness to step into my world, to connect, and to share in conversation about the paths that brought us both here.”
Alessandro (friend – bearded man in red shirt on wall of portraits): “Alessandro is not a neighbor or family member, but someone my wife Marissa and I came to know through his Italian restaurant in Sausalito. When he learned of my diagnosis, he was deeply saddened. Knowing that family had come in from out of town to stay with us while I recovered, he brought over pizza, lasagna, salad, appetizers, and bottles of wine. Since then, Alessandro continues to check in on me, personally delivers food, and even keeps an eye out for imported extra virgin olive oil from Italy.”
Maykao (neighbor – woman in gray sweater on wall of portraits) Maykao – whose compassion, support, and kindness have meant so much to my recovery – had never been portrayed in a work of art before. After I finished her portrait, she shared how moved she was – not just by the likeness, but by the experience itself. She mentioned that she had never truly seen herself in this way before, and how meaningful it was to sit with me, observe the process, and be part of something so personal.”
Sitting with subjects for almost two hours, Vincent gets intimate time to talk with them, thank them, and paint a portrait that reflects how he sees them, however skewed by his impaired eyesight they may be. Their power. Their selflessness. Their fortitude. It’s a thanks with a paintbrush.
And for Vincent, the portraits are a form of therapy for the vision he lost after surgery. The goal of the paintings is not to create a perfect physical representation of the subject, but to illustrate a subjective, emotional representation of who they are. For many subjects, especially Vincent’s nurses, it was the first time they had ever truly “seen” themselves.
Marissa (Vincent’s wife), Vincent, and Dr. Michael Zhang (Vincent’s neurosurgeon)
Courtesy: Vincent Serritella
Portrait of Dr. Michael Zhang
Courtesy: Vincent Serritella
The Journey
It’s a testament to his recovery that Vincent can paint at all. Last December, Vincent started seeing strange artifacts in his vision and a loss of sight in his left eye. A trip to the eye doctor frantically escalated to an emergency MRI at the hospital, where it was discovered he had a brain tumor and was diagnosed with glioblastoma. What followed was a 20-day ICU stay with nonstop procedures and surgeries. In a blink, his life had totally altered.
The prognosis for glioblastoma is brutal… and, as a healthy 50-year-old, Vincent expected he would have a lot more life to live. But Vincent wasn’t alone in the struggle. His wife, Marissa, his sister-in-law, Jill, and countless others in Vincent’s life sprang into action to care for, support, and advocate for him. They set up fundraisers, connected with nonprofits, and organized teams for tumor walks.
Vincent’s care is the embodiment of the phrase “It takes a village…”
The Takeaway
Vincent has so far completed 21 portraits of a planned 40, with hopes of either presenting them at a gallery or publishing them in a book. Just like his cancer journey, he’s early in this process, and is simply reacting to how it develops… with gratitude for each new day and each new subject he gets to paint.
As Vincent told us: “As terrible as this whole diagnosis has been, there's also a blessing in it that I'm given this opportunity to kind of one-by-one go through everyone and express my gratitude and share how thankful I am for who they are and how they've shown up when I've needed them.”
To me, that’s surviving to the fullest.
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Podcast
Nick Cannon, the renowned comedian, actor, rapper, and TV host, is my next guest on The Person Who Believed In Me. He told me about the person who changed his life – Grandmaster James Wilson, a martial arts instructor, minister, and attorney who gave his time to a lower-income community in San Diego, California.
Some highlights include:
How his dad and Grandmaster Wilson were connected and what that meant for how his teenage father raised Nick.
Nick describing how he learned what discipline, integrity, and perseverance looked like up close for a hyperactive five-year-old.
How he created Wild ‘N Out with his own money, sold it to MTV, and how it opened the doors for comedians like Kevin Hart, Katt Williams, and Pete Davidson.
How he manages the guilt he carries daily for being a father of 12.
Nick also tells me how he still wants to prove himself at 45 and why he feels like he’s just getting started!
A Full Life At Stage 4
“This is not a story about dying. It’s about living fully.” That’s part of what Marni Reed wrote to me that stopped me in my tracks and made me think. Her husband has been fighting stage 4 pancreatic cancer – the same disease that took her father years ago – since 2024. But it’s what Marni has learned from this experience that I want people to hear most.
Here are my favorite takeaways:
“Everyday caregiving has changed me in a profound way I wouldn’t change. It stripped down my ego and the urgency of things around me that just didn’t matter.”
“It made our marriage more honest and intentional. It gave us a really strange gift called clarity and a word that most people don’t fully understand, called enough. We don’t postpone being happy. We don’t save things we'd use only for special occasions. We talk about the hard things and forgive faster.”
“We let people help us, which is a lot harder than it sounds. The takeaway is not inspirational in a really fun, glossy way. It’s just practical. So, invest in relationships and let go of the people who can’t show up. Create an intentional community, so if things go sideways, you’re not alone.”
Marnie wanted to share with everyone a hard-earned piece of wisdom: “I would offer people the art of perspective. It’s a muscle you build before you need it. You must practice using it when things aren’t terrible. Simply practice changing perspective. Practice gratitude when there is absolutely nothing going on.”
Thank you, Marni, for this lovely reminder. Your husband is in our thoughts and prayers.
What would you do with limited time?
The results from last week’s poll are in! 65% of you said a space feels truly inclusive “when I’m treated like I belong.” Hopefully, we all make our communities feel like that for others.
Goodie Bag
☀️ When a four-pound Maltese was thrown from a car, hit by another one, and then bitten by a dog, a Good Samaritan rushed the pup to the emergency vet at the Pasadena Humane Society in Southern California. Despite the dog’s numerous injuries, Timmy (that’s his name now) is thankfully making a full recovery… and has already found a foster home. You can see the latest update on Timmy here.
Courtesy: Pasadena Humane Society
Courtesy: The Feldmans
☀️ Keiko and Rob Feldman, frequent flyers out of Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, wanted to do something to help struggling TSA agents impacted by the recent government shutdown. So, with the help of family, friends, and neighbors, they raised over $2,000 to buy a box of $25 grocery cards, which they just distributed to agents at their hometown airport.
Kidney Responders
Click image to watch
In this week’s Beg-Knows America, I told the incredible story of Reno paramedic Lucas Gorelick, who donated his kidney to NYC Police Sergeant Christopher Romero after they connected through the organization Kidneys for Communities. This national nonprofit helps connect potential donors to a community that they care about at no cost to the donor. I had the honor of bringing them together face-to-face for the first time!
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One More Thing…
Courtesy: CJ Mueller
Last month, I wrote about seven-year-old Luke Mueller of Indianapolis, who was asking for seeds from every state in order to start a garden that could help save bees. There was an overwhelming response from gardeners who wanted to contribute to the young boy's project. As of March 19, he has received seeds from every state and Puerto Rico.
Way to go, Luke! We can’t wait to see photos of the garden.
Made with love by David Begnaud and the team.
Stories that set your soul on fire.
