Men drive 2 hours to give stranger Christmas cards, his dying wish

PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wis. -- A Wisconsin man dying of a terminal illness had one dying wish this holiday season -- Christmas cards -- and when three strangers heard his story, they drove two hours to hand-deliver their cards to him.

Gene Weittenhiller, from Prairie du Sac, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and his family is having a difficult time facing this reality, especially during the holiday season.

"We are each others' best friends, travel buddies. We do everything together. That's why I'm going to miss him so much," Gene's wife, Linda Weittenhiller, said through tears.

Gene also teared up talking about his diagnosis.

"My youngest granddaughter, who is three years old, doesn't grasp that Grandpa W is sick and he isn't able to get on the floor and roll around with me anymore. That's very difficult for me to accept," he said.

Christmas is one of the most important times of the year for the Weittenhiller family, so one of his last wishes is to receive as many Christmas cards as possible.

Then one man, Earl Minley from Milwaukee, read Gene's story online and decided to help make his holiday wish come true.

"I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I was just like, man, I was battling my own depression, stressing, and the first thing I saw when I went on Google, I seen his story, and I'm like, 'Wow,'" he said.

Minley called his two friends, Markeith Powell and Marqwain Givhan, and they drove two hours to the Weittenhillers' front door.

"He's like, 'Seriously?' I'm like, 'Ya, we didn't have nothing to do today, and we just decided to come up here today to make you smile' ... The smile on their face, it's like they knew us already," Minley said.

They hugged and prayed and together, they cried. They talked about how they're each fighting their own battles and left him with words of encouragement.

"It made us realize how precious life is. Like, the stuff we are going through ain't nothing," Givhan said.

If you'd like to send Gene Weittenhiller a Christmas card, mail it to the following address: 410 20th Street, Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin 53578.