Today would have been my Uncle Robb's 52nd birthday. He was a pretty cool guy and pretty much everyone he met liked him. He was a husband to my Aunt Debbie, a dad to my cousins, Amanda and Ryan, and an Uncle to several adoring nieces and nephews. He was also a son, a brother, and a good friend to many. He was an Iowa farm boy who knew the value of hard work and he applied it to his daily life. I remember him laughing a lot, teasing, telling jokes and goofing around. He always seemed to enjoy life, family, and friends. His life was cut short though, and after a years-long battle with cancer, he died at the young age of 34.
I wrote the following piece several years ago while in grad school. I had kind of forgotten about it but when I gave the PC to my Dad he found it saved in some random file. He thought it was neat and gave me a hard copy of it. I haven't changed much from the original piece aside from a couple of typos. I hope you enjoy it and can see a little bit of a really awesome guy who loved life, his family, and God.
I have in my possession a large blue lazy boy recliner. It's your standard, overstuffed, early nineties vintage recliner; not so attractive, but super comfy. Over the years it has drifted from garage to dorm room to bedroom to living room and back several times.
In the many years that I have been the owner of this fine piece of ugly furniture, may have tried to convince me to get rid of it. "Throw it out!", "That thing is hideous!", Why don't you get something else?" they say. But the blue recliner remains a member of my household. It has a tear in it that grows larger with each passing year, but the blue recliner lives on. Perhaps it is my own (sometimes pathetic) sentimental side that persuades me to keep the the chair.
You see, it once belonged to my Uncle Robb who spent many weeks in it during his battle with cancer eleven years ago. As a ten year old, I spent a large amount of time with him, my aunt and their two children helping out after chemotherapy treatments. I would rub his feet as he sat in the chair to help distract him from the pain and nausea of the vicious disease he was battling. I sat next to him and learned the pi equals not just 3.14, but 3.1415927! I hated learning it, and I still hate math, but I will certainly never forget what pi is! While he sat in that chair I read aloud to him to get used to talking with my retainers, and as soon as I would stop and try to take them out, a quick "No, Kathy, leave them in or you'll never get used to them!" would follow.
It's funny how something like an old recliner can shape and mold one into the adult they eventually become. When I sit in my recliner I think about the bravery and courage my Uncle Robb showed during his three year battle with cancer, I think about the strong hope of recovery that he carried with him for those difficult years, I remember his strong faith and belief in God that developed and grew with each passing day. I think about the love he felt and showed for his family, and his understanding that family should not be taken for granted.
It wasn't until adulthood that I learned that from his diagnosis doctors told him that the form of the disease in his body was fatal; the best they could offer was treatment to prolong his life for a few short years.
He knew from the beginning of his battle that he had no medical chance of surviving, but he battled the disease for three grueling years. When I feel discouraged about life and it's pressures, I think about my Uncle Robb and his crusade against the disease that eventually took his life. I think about his courage in the face of imminent death and his faith and hope that he could survive.
When I sit in the recliner I realize that fear of the future is completely normal, but I also realize that faith and hope are required to overcome that fear. When I'm worried about life or how things are going to turn out, I sit in my recliner and think about my Uncle Robb and the things I learned from him. I think about how one day, when I meet him again, I will thank him for all the things I learned from him while he sat in that old recliner - all of the things that have so deeply influenced my life.
And I will smile for him so he can see my straight teeth and laugh when I tell him that pi equals 3.1415927 and that I still HATE MATH!
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