Zachary Coil starts with a disclaimer. “At the risk of sounding Pollyanna,” he says, before acknowledging that cancer is the worst thing that ever happened to him and his family. He’d do anything to make it go away.

And then he tells you the rest.

“I have had my eyes opened to a tremendous amount of love and support that was available to me and my family from years and years of a life well lived.” Ten months into his cancer journey, he felt closer to God and people than ever before. He found more to appreciate in the world than he’d allowed himself before.

This is the complicated truth survivors live with: the worst thing can also crack you open to what was there all along.

A Life in Pieces

When artist Tybee Tallulah Maitri began talking with Zack through Twist Out Cancer’s Brushes with Cancer program, what struck her was his constancy. “Zack was always doing, while maintaining a state of stability,” she observed. He worked with the homeless population in Santa Monica. He meditated. He spent time in his garden. “He embraces life full force.”

The image that captured all of this was a quilt. Not just any quilt, but a specific 1938 watercolor called “Crazy Quilt” by Dolores A. Haupt. A crazy quilt has no set pattern. Each piece is different, arranged not for symmetry but for the way colors and textures speak to each other. It’s organized chaos. It’s making something beautiful from whatever scraps you have.

For “Comfort in Meditation,” a 24″x20″ digital collage, Tybee combined the crazy quilt with Wilhelm Lehmbruck’s 1917 sculpture “Seated Youth.” She placed the figure in the corner, observing the entire quilt. There’s Zack in the composition, watching over the colorful chaos of his life, present but reflective, engaged but meditative.

Why Quilts Matter

There’s another layer to the quilt metaphor. Zack works with the homeless population. A local church makes quilts for people experiencing homelessness. “Everyone finds comfort in a blanket,” Tybee notes.

It’s such a basic human need. Warmth. Something to wrap around yourself when the world feels cold. For someone going through cancer treatment, that need becomes both literal and deeper. It’s about feeling covered, protected, held.

Years of a Life Well Lived

What stands out in Zack’s reflection is his recognition that the love and support that surrounded him during cancer didn’t appear out of nowhere. It came from “years and years of a life well lived.” The relationships he’d built, the community work he’d done, all of that created a foundation that held him when he needed it.

The quilt of his life had been in progress long before his diagnosis. Cancer just made him look at the whole thing at once.

More Than Awful

“There has been an enormous amount more than just awful, sad, and tragic,” Zack says. He’s not minimizing the reality. He’s expanding it. Yes, this is the worst thing that happened to him. And also: he felt the universe taking care of them. He connected with an artist across the country. He appreciated more of what the world offers.

The Brushes with Cancer program gave Zack and Tybee regular conversations where he could share his ups and downs with someone who listened. For Tybee, it meant capturing the spirit of someone who impressed her deeply. “Zack is a beautiful person,” she says. “Zack is a cool guy to know.”

In the digital collage, that seated youth in the corner observes the crazy quilt of Zack’s life with quiet attention. Not overwhelmed by it. Not trying to control it. Just watching, present, grounded.

That’s what meditation teaches you. That’s what cancer sometimes forces you to learn. You can’t control which pieces end up in your quilt. You don’t get to choose the colors that dominate. But you can sit with the whole thing, observe it, find the beauty in how it comes together.

The quilt Tybee created from public domain images mirrors the quilt Zack has been creating from his actual life: work and family and community and loss and love and meditation and helping others. Bright colors and dark patches. All of it woven together into something that provides exactly what quilts are meant to provide.

Comfort. Warmth. Proof that separate pieces can form something stronger together. A reminder that years of a life well lived create a pattern you can wrap around yourself when everything falls apart.

“Comfort in Meditation” by Tybee Tallulah Maitri was created through Twist Out Cancer’s Brushes with Cancer program, which pairs artists with individuals touched by cancer to create meaningful artwork reflecting their journeys.