Meeting Uncle Jim

My brother Jim is amazing. He is a fighter. He has had cancer for 12 years, and by sheer willpower, has survived 5 brain tumor surgeries (the last of which left him paralyzed on his left side in 2006). He is only 40 years old. His wife, Dawn, has been with him through all of it...and I thank God for her and her unconditional love for my brother, and her dogged determination to do everything she can for him (which often requires a freakish tenacity and attention to the Medicare/Medicaid system).

Dawn called me last week and told me Jim had a recent MRI, and that the cancer he had last year, the residual tumor left, was back and growing. After talking to his oncologist last Tuesday, I made the last minute decision to fly to Jacksonville and bring Gillian to see her Uncle Jim the next day-on the 4th of July (unbeknownst to him). It was important to me that Jim see Gillian in person, and it was important for me to spend some quality time with him.

Gillian handled the trip like a champ (and so did I, I might add-I did G's first flying trip solo). The flights were ok, given the timing, and she managed to get through being dragged around Jacksonville and spending hours in a nursing home just fine. It was a bright spot in Jim's day to have the squeals and happy sounds of a baby in his room. I always forget, until I'm with him, how funny Jim is, and somehow, through all of this, he has kept his sarcasm, and smart-assed sensibilities that I love so much. The trip was also an opportunity for me to help Dawn set up Hospice for Jim. He is going home Tuesday to be with his family, where he belongs (he asked me, at one point, "Yeah, but am I going home or am I going Home?").

If there is a heaven, where people who have gone ahead wait for you, and where all your bodily challenges and pains are relieved...and where good people are rewarded for being good, then I know a few things:
1) There will be a special place for Dawn, Jim's love, and advocate, and wife of 17 years (who has struggled 10 lifetimes to help him and is just 36 years old);
2) Dad will be waiting to throw some balls with Jim again, and mom will be there to cheer them on (Jim was once a baseball star, and pitcher extraordinaire);
3) When Jim goes Home, there will be a bright new star in the sky for me to talk to and to watch over me.