A true gift of life

It's a terrible thing to be 25 and have a brain tumor. That's what happened to my cousin Jon. He was given 6 months to live by the doctors. Thankfully, happily, joyfully they were wrong. He had surgery, the tumor was removed, and then he went out and lived his life. He fell in love, he started a business, he sang and wrote music. And now he is truly gone. Fifteen years later.

I remember...
running all over the yard playing Star Wars, and Jon was always Darth Vader.

the 4th of July party where he kept taking pictures of people's tongues, and how odd the finished "tongue" album looked.

he and his sister Mary singing a song to me at my wedding reception.




This is a photo from our family reunion last year. Jon (next to Dan and Nathan) was getting sick again by this time, the news today was not surprising. I'd like to believe in heaven today, because I know my Mom did, and she'd love to see her favorite nephew again. They were the clowns in the family, it's not right that they've left us so soon.