MESA, AZ — When 70-year-old Carla Well-Knight received grim news about her health, she didn't let it stop her from spreading kindness throughout her Mesa senior living facility. That generosity recently came back to her in a loud and unforgettable way.
Well-Knight's life is like a never-ending, versatile playlist. Her musical tastes range from Jefferson Airplane, Jethro Tull, and from her younger days to mood-setting Motown and classical quartets on Sundays.
"Probably cello is my favorite instrument," Well-Knight said.
But a closer look at her 70-year musical catalog reveals one genre that stands out above the rest — she's a rocker through and through.
"Korn is probably my second favorite band," she said.
Well-Knight loves Tool, A Perfect Circle and Linkin Park, but this 70-year-old's all-time favorite artist is Nine Inch Nails.
"He does write a lot of things about death," she said.
Those songs about death hit differently these days. Well-Knight is receiving hospice care at her Mesa senior living facility as she battles a spreading form of breast cancer. This comes a few years after cancer took her husband.
But grim news from doctors and dark music didn't diminish Well-Knight's kindness.
"I believe the more you give, the more you get back. Always. And I love giving things away," she said.
When her neighbors needed walkers and wheelchairs, Well-Knight didn't hesitate to offer up extras from her home. That generosity led a caretaker to nominate her for AARP's Wish of a Lifetime program, which reconnects seniors with their passions.
Her wish was granted in the form of floor seats to see Nine Inch Nails at PHX Arena. There she was, in the middle of the mosh pit, rocking out just feet from frontman Trent Reznor.
Well-Knight says she's at peace when her playlist does come to an end. She believes the best way to live life is when kindness is turned all the way up.
"The two words: be kind. What you say might cheer them up in a way you don't know," she said.
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