Forward to the past

An opportunity has suddenly arisen for me to go visit family in the deep South, my cousin Donna and her husband Dan. If all goes according to plan I will likely be gone for a week or so beginning saturday. While on the road I will have minimal, if any, access to the web and email so I will be virtually scarce for the duration.

The post title is a reverse twist on the movie Back to the Future and refers (among other things) to the fact that in an effort to not miss my favorite TV shows, I have removed my futuristic DTV converter boxes in order to return to receiving simple old-fashioned analog broadcasts. That will allow me once again to program my VCRs to record whatever channels whenever without me having to be around to manually change channels on the converter boxes. But that's really very trivial, considering...

On an obviously far more serious note there's a story behind the trip, but the drastically abridged version is that I've never been to Donna and Dan's home (despite a standing invitation) and have always wanted to get there at some point.

Now to expand on that condensed version somewhat Dan had been having some pain and difficulty for a while, especially this past spring and summer, and eventually was diagnosed with pancreatitis. The treatment was to be a very low fat diet of small meals more frequently through the day. That and meds seemed to help alleviate his pain apparently. But then on Sep 27th I received a short email from Dan saying, "Please say a prayer for me. Today I found out I have pancreatic cancer."

On Oct 1st he elaborated with, "Just got back from ____ for surgery consult. They did CT Scan and tumor is larger than first thought 3, 4 inches. It is around the veins and arteries of the pancreas and inoperable. Doctor said 12-14 months +/- 6 months depending on what chemo/radiation can do. Will of course seek another opinion, but it really floored me."

Well, it has floored all of us in the larger family as well. So this past week when circumstances lined up to permit a short visit, I couldn't pass up the chance. As of now the route mapping and packing has begun. I will only be there for 3 days or so, but travel to/from there is by way of another state (not on the direct route) so as to go and return from there with another cousin as well.

Donna & Dan are both very special to me. They are a couple who LIVE their Christian faith everyday. Dan is an ex-cop who has also built something like 60 homes in his lifetime, always hammering, sawing, fixing, replacing something for somebody. He's traveled to other countries to help with minor things like building homes/schools for poor populations and seeing that they have running water. Utilizing his ex-cop resumé he went to Louisiana (for at least a few weeks, if not a few months, but I don't recall exactly) to help out with security and general emergency services amid the chaos following hurricane Katrina.

He's also traveled hundreds of miles on short notice to help me on more than one occasion. A couple years ago he stayed with me for a few weeks when he had some other work in the area lined up and while here he rebuilt my crumbling back steps (and played with my niece)...

   

Another time he drove in one day (600 miles with the same cousin I will now be travelling south with) for only an overnight stay and fixed a leaking pipe from my heater. The trip also coincided with something else going on at that moment, but still, he certainly didn't have to help me in his already limited time. But that's Dan for ya, bringing all the tools he'd need and telling me exactly what materials to get ahead of time so the project was ready for him.

Now, as a regrettably negative aside (but I feel I need to take this opportunity to say it)... In my online travels, especially during the recent presidential election, I often come across a certain kind of commenter who feels the need to snidely put down people of Christian faith as they tie it into politics. I understand why that is and try not to take it too seriously or personally, but I also feel that it does a major disservice to a large percentage of good folks of faith.

Donna and Dan are my prime examples of people who, as some folks like to say, walk the walk. They are the reason why I often bristle at such opinions put forth so casually on the web in a hostile manner belittling an overly general stereotype (and that's really all it is imo). I'm sorry, but that's something that quite frankly just often bugs me and Donna & Dan are the reason that it does. Maybe others would say that they're the exception to "the rule," but I don't know and I don't pretend to know.

I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it, but oh well. It's just that I usually don't rebut such arguments when they are put forth, so I thought that just this once I would do that here a little bit. Some might think it inappropriate to bring up, but I consider it very appropriate because I feel it's relevant to illustrate a point. Anyway, enough negativity.

And now to finish on a more positive note, here are just a few more pics I thought I'd share...

1) Dan walking his daughter down the aisle
2) Dan, Donna, and their kids at their son's wedding
3) Donna & Dan way back when...

       

It will be great to see Donna & Dan and to finally see their home too. I just wish it was under better circumstances, of course. But the sooner, the better I figure if only because unfortunately such an illness will likely restrict the quality time of any potential future visits as things progress.

Their son and his wife live down there in the same area and their daughter is flying in to be with them for a few weeks as well. A few other family members are also gonna be there at the same time for about the same number of days, but they are going directly, with no side trip join up with anyone else.

The genuine hope is that a good time will be had by all and that for a few days at least there will be some distraction from "things" for Donna & Dan, as much distraction as they can get anyway when he's going for chemo 4x/week and radition on the 5th day.

I admit I'm not the most overly religious person (in a strict denominational sense) myself, but I certainly do admire Donna & Dan's working faith and the strength they derive from it. I often wish that I could somehow siphon off some of that for myself. But I do know that if anyone is worthy of good thoughts and heartfelt prayers for strength on this road they must travel it's Dan and Donna. And if you, dear reader, can find it in your heart to do likewise for just a tiny moment right now, it is greatly appreciated. Thank you.