A friend of mine died on 3/8 from a stroke. He was a runner and a very healthy 51 years old. I knew him from getting into a carpool with him (Don) and another guy about 6 years ago. The other dropped out and Don and I carpooled for about a year. His work schedule then changed and that ended the car pool. You really get to learn a lot about a person when you spend two 45-minute trips a day in a car with them.
Don’s wife came down with breast cancer a few years ago. She has been battling that ever since and I heard it had spread to her spine. Don has a 20-year-old daughter from a previous marriage who he raised since birth until she was 10 on his own. He then got remarried. They adopted a young boy 4 or 5 years ago. He told me he expected to be assuming the single parent duties again any time due to his wife’s cancer problem.
Well we got an email from HR last Friday that had Employee Death/Memorial Notification as the subject. The average age where I work is about 47 so they are coming more frequently than in the past. Anyway when I opened it and saw Don’s name I was stunned. I had just seen him in the cafeteria the previous week and we exchanged, “Hey Don.” “Hey John.” I wanted to ask him about his wife, but was in line. I thought I would catch him later. When I got done he was gone and I never saw him again.
I called his boss to find out what happened. Don had been battling high blood pressure lately. There were also a few times that his lips bled for no reason and he had blood in his urine. I was told that he and the family went out for pizza last weekend and the lips started bleeding then so he decided to make a doctor’s appointment on Monday. On Monday he found out he had acute leukemia. On Tuesday while getting dressed for work he mentioned he didn’t feel right. His wife got a neighbor who is a nurse. Within 6 minutes of her getting there Don was gray and unconscious. They called 911 and he ended up on a respirator in a hospital. He was from Maryland so he had parents and siblings back there. They all rushed out to Arizona to see him in the unconscious state in the hospital bed. He had a DNR order in a living will. They cut the power to the respirator and he passed away within 15 minutes.
Don got a lot out of life. After serving in the Navy he went to work at a nuclear plant in New York. He then got sick of the cold weather and moved to Arizona where he also worked at nuclear power plant. He hiked the Grand Canyon numerous times and ran a few marathons. He was a head mechanic for a race car team at one point. He wanted to make a difference in the world and decided to adopt a special needs child. It took a long time to get through that process, but they eventually did. His new son brought a lot of happiness to him and he said it changed his life. I now wonder who will be there to raise the young boy. He is around 7 years old now. Don’s wife is very ill and I doubt she will be here much longer.
During the memorial service yesterday one of his brothers said he had wanted to send Don a card letting him know that he loved him and he was his hero. He said he never did it and can’t now. He said not to take for granted that someone will always be there because this is a perfect example of that.
Don’s daughter mentioned that he recently told her that he would never want to go through what his wife has in the past few years with the chemo treatments and everything else related to battling cancer. Well, he didn’t. He found out he had leukemia and a stroke killed him the next day. He was kept alive on a respirator until his family got into town.
Life is not fair and we all know that. This hit me hard and will serve as wake-up call. I hope it will for others too.
RIP Don.
Don’s wife came down with breast cancer a few years ago. She has been battling that ever since and I heard it had spread to her spine. Don has a 20-year-old daughter from a previous marriage who he raised since birth until she was 10 on his own. He then got remarried. They adopted a young boy 4 or 5 years ago. He told me he expected to be assuming the single parent duties again any time due to his wife’s cancer problem.
Well we got an email from HR last Friday that had Employee Death/Memorial Notification as the subject. The average age where I work is about 47 so they are coming more frequently than in the past. Anyway when I opened it and saw Don’s name I was stunned. I had just seen him in the cafeteria the previous week and we exchanged, “Hey Don.” “Hey John.” I wanted to ask him about his wife, but was in line. I thought I would catch him later. When I got done he was gone and I never saw him again.
I called his boss to find out what happened. Don had been battling high blood pressure lately. There were also a few times that his lips bled for no reason and he had blood in his urine. I was told that he and the family went out for pizza last weekend and the lips started bleeding then so he decided to make a doctor’s appointment on Monday. On Monday he found out he had acute leukemia. On Tuesday while getting dressed for work he mentioned he didn’t feel right. His wife got a neighbor who is a nurse. Within 6 minutes of her getting there Don was gray and unconscious. They called 911 and he ended up on a respirator in a hospital. He was from Maryland so he had parents and siblings back there. They all rushed out to Arizona to see him in the unconscious state in the hospital bed. He had a DNR order in a living will. They cut the power to the respirator and he passed away within 15 minutes.
Don got a lot out of life. After serving in the Navy he went to work at a nuclear plant in New York. He then got sick of the cold weather and moved to Arizona where he also worked at nuclear power plant. He hiked the Grand Canyon numerous times and ran a few marathons. He was a head mechanic for a race car team at one point. He wanted to make a difference in the world and decided to adopt a special needs child. It took a long time to get through that process, but they eventually did. His new son brought a lot of happiness to him and he said it changed his life. I now wonder who will be there to raise the young boy. He is around 7 years old now. Don’s wife is very ill and I doubt she will be here much longer.
During the memorial service yesterday one of his brothers said he had wanted to send Don a card letting him know that he loved him and he was his hero. He said he never did it and can’t now. He said not to take for granted that someone will always be there because this is a perfect example of that.
Don’s daughter mentioned that he recently told her that he would never want to go through what his wife has in the past few years with the chemo treatments and everything else related to battling cancer. Well, he didn’t. He found out he had leukemia and a stroke killed him the next day. He was kept alive on a respirator until his family got into town.
Life is not fair and we all know that. This hit me hard and will serve as wake-up call. I hope it will for others too.
RIP Don.
