BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — On March 15, 52-year old Kassie O'Ruddle was given 21 days to live in light of her battle with stage four breast cancer.
However, Kassie believes you should laugh everyday, "Even if you were just laughing at the bee's out there that were humping on the flower, that's funny and if you aren't laughing at that I don't know what to tell ya, maybe your sense of humor got left in the bathroom but you know it don't have to be dirty humor to be funny," Kassie said.
In 2013, she said cancer tried to steal her laugh, but instead she made the best of the cards she was dealt.
She has had many surgeries to combat the illness but the cancer has been relentless and she was recently put on hospice.
"They gave me 21 days, but I am still here baby," Kassie said.
According to Kassie, laughter is what is keeping her alive.
"I laugh a thousand times a day," Kassie said. "If you have a day and you haven't laughed... you have wasted that day, shame on you!"
Although most wouldn't know, Kassie is also blind.
"I see people better than other people really, because I get to know them before I talk to them." Kassie said. "I can hear how they walk, every thought has a sound. I can hear what mood they are in, I can hear if they are having a bad day, I can hear by their sighs and their pauses that they're frustrated."
She spends a lot of time writing a cookbook in cursive of her Irish recipes for her autistic daughter and interviewing foster parents, who will take her place one day.
Tomorrow is not guaranteed and Kassie says her last wish is to be a part of what makes others laugh.
To help make that wish come true, her caregiver reached out to Temblor Brewery Company in Bakersfield to see if Kassie could tell hospital jokes during their open mic comedy show. Sure enough they were happy to give her the floor.
"All we want to have from this is to give Kassie the best night she can possibly have with it to make sure if this is the one time she ever does stand up that it's the perfect kind of night," Bakersfield Comics Organizer for Temblor Brewery Company, Chris Flail said.
The open mic night at Temblor starts at seven and will be free to get in.
Kassie said she just hopes by making others laugh, she can give people who are sick like her a reason to feel alive again.
"That's what it's about!," Kassie said. "We live right up until the last breath we take, but we can't do that without laughter. Without laughter there's no hope and I want to give hope back."
Kassie is scheduled to take the mic next Wednesday May 1, pending her health. She says if you are feeling down this show will be just for you.
