In the past, I have written a few times about a young man named Quincy.
For those of you who don't feel like clicking on the links, the nephew/son of some friends I have had since 5th grade, Quincy suffered from the Duchenne type of Muscular Dystrophy, which is considered one of the more deadly forms of M.D. Earlier this week, shy of his 14th birthday, Quincy passed away from heart failure.
It...it hit me pretty hard. Even knowing that this was going to happen to this young man sooner rather than later...seeing him going from walking, to walking with braces, and then a full on walker, and then a wheel chair, and finally ending up bed ridden, as medicine after medicine failed to help.
Maybe it's because he is so close in age to my older daughter...and, we have been so lucky. There are so many things that can go wrong in this world...and we have been lucky to dodge them all...so far. Past returns are no guarantee of future success.
It makes me want to appreciate my kids so much...look them in the eye and say 'I love you' each time I give them a hug. Instead, I still come home and grumble at them because they didn't think to go out any time since lunch and look for chicken eggs.
During the last few years, what has really impressed me has been his parents...knowing that some point this was going to happen, they have done what they can to enjoy every minute of it. I'm not sure I am that strong. Just thinking about having to deal with watching your child fade away makes me quiver...I mean, crap...I get pouty on Sunday afternoon's when I think about having to go to work on Monday. How do you deal with people on an everyday basis when you know your child is not going to make it another 9 months?
Anyway...as you can tell, I've been dwelling on it a lot, and I finally had to write about it because I couldn't stand the idea of trying to write about stupid politics, or filthy fracking animals that hang a 3-year old kid upside down and beat him to death, without honoring Quincy first.
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