Eulogies
Hello. I just wanted to come up here to tell a pretty short story but one that I think really shows the kind of person Alex was both as a brother and as a friend. One night, about four weeks ago, I came home late to find Alex patiently waiting for me, wrapped in his favorite orange blanket. As soon as he saw me, he grinned and murmured something. I couldn’t hear him, so I rushed over ready to be helpful; maybe to get a glass of water, another blanket or something. But instead, he just pointed to the chair next to him and beckoned me to lean in closer. Looking me straight in the eyes, Alex whispered, “high school must really be hard right now.” At first I almost laughed. Here Alex sat, practically a skeleton after the two years of destructive chemotherapy, surgery, radiation not to mention a bone marrow transplant -and he’s talking about how hard my life is. But then he said, “Everything will be okay.” And as soon as he said that, I knew that what Alex was really doing was saying goodbye. Even after all the pain he went through, and though his body was so debilitated, Alex had the strength to comfort his little brother. He grabbed my hand and put his head on my shoulder. With tears running down my face, I told him that I loved him and that he was the most important part of my childhood. Alex, grinning, said, “well, of course I was” and with last of his strength gone, he fell asleep. Alex, as you all well know, did not have a long life and did not have enough time to accomplish all the things he wanted. But what is really important, and what defined Alex was his immeasurable understanding and love for his family and friends. And without this I don’t think that my family or I would have been able to come to terms with his death. I love my brother, and I know, where ever he is now, he is thrilled to see so many people here, because he loved to be the center of attention, but really, he’s just concerned that his family and all of his friends will be okay.
- Dash Adam
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