This date has special meaning to me. When I was a child we joked about it being “Leap
Day” and said we would not want to be born on this date. Who wants a birthday only once every four
years? But what if you died on this
date? I never thought about that.
Well, now I’ve thought about that a lot in the past 12 years because my older brother Jerry died on February 29, 2008. He was 65 years old and died after a five year
battle with Mantel Cell Lymphoma cancer.
He went through multiple chemotherapy treatments, an attempted stem cell
transplant and many other uncomfortable treatments. He was treated at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minnesota. He spent several weeks at the Gift of Life Transplant
House in Rochester after the stem cell transplant. There was a requirement that he have someone stay there
with him during that time. Charlie, our brother, and I each stayed with
him for half of his time there. I took
medical leave from my job and stayed for the first part and then Charlie came for
the remainder of the time.
I don’t mean to write all this as something sad. I just want to share my memory of someone
that was very special in my life.
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| Charlie, myself and Jerry, Easter 1954 |
Jerry was a writer and a newspaper editor but more than
anything he was a lover of nature. He
settled in Minnesota because he loved the beautiful countryside, lakes and
wildlife. He camped out and canoed as
much as he could and he even spent most of one year living in the wilderness
with his tent and canoe. He taught me so
much about many things and always listened when I had a problem. Jerry was a unique and real person in a
world that was often very superficial.
He had requested to be cremated and have his ashes spread in
a quiet and hidden part of the Mississippi headwaters where he used to
camp. He was the first member of our
family to be cremated and I initially had mixed feelings about
it. Per his request we only had
immediate family members there when we spread his ashes. It was a beautiful and private
ceremony. It could not have been more
perfect and well suited to who he was as a person.
When I thought about his death falling on a date that comes
just once every four years, I realized that date would have suited him
perfectly. He was not like any other
person I’ve ever known. He would
have liked that date. If it had not been
leap year he would have died on March 1st and he would never have wanted that
because it was our Mother’s birthday. It
is funny how things work out sometimes.
