Remembering a Friend

I am finding it very hard to write about my own health issues right now.  All I can think about is a very close family friend who tragically lost his three-year battle to brain cancer this morning.  This young man was diagnosed at the young age of 24 while a law student. He was determined to stay in school, become a healthcare lawyer, and live as normally as possible. He just wanted to get on with his life, past his cancer, and every time he was about to the horrible, pernicious tumor would start to grow again.  He went to some of the best hospitals and went through multiple surgeries and therapies, doing everything that could be done.

The two of us bonded over being young and sick.  But I knew that his prognosis was much worse than mine.  I just tried to put it out of my head.  I hoped and prayed that he could beat the odds.  He deserved to beat the odds.

What always struck me about him was his wonder at the world.  He wanted to learn things and soak them in-- and he was just really beginning to when he got sick. I can't think of any explanation for why this happened.

When I spoke with his mother on the phone the other day as her son was taking a turn for the worse, she told me how hard it was for her son not to be able to do the things he wanted to with his life, as well as not to be able to do small things for himself.  She said what is most important is being part of a family unit. This couldn't be more true.

I had a dream the other night that he was in his hospital bed on a tiny and beautiful tropical island with white sand.  The island was so small it looked like it was just floating in a sea of pristine blue water. I pray that he is there right now, free of his hospital bed and his illness and most of all peaceful. And that he knows how much his family and friends love him.