The Game Ended the 2nd Quarter

For well over 20 years, my husband and I and three other couples have gotten together for a progressive dinner during the holiday season. This year will be different because we just lost the first of our close-knit group.

Saturday at the Illinois football game, he suddenly had a stroke in the second quarter. Moments earlier he was his animated self, yelling and cheering for his alumni school. He was sitting between his wife and my husband. This morning he died.

He fought off cancer for over 15 years: a couple colon areas, a kidney, and then a couple of areas in the brain. But he continued playing golf, attending sporting events, drinking beer, and working in his veterinary office, never complaining of chemo, radiation and his own surgeries. He would relate that some of the chemo he was given was also medication used for sheep, and then make some remark unsuitable to repeat on this blog. He often joked that rumors in our small town had him dead several times over the years.

He was never a crank, as his name would suggest. He was so much fun to be around. He was patient and understanding with his dog and cat clients, as well as their owners.

I hope he's talking golf and Illini sports while drinking a beer with my brother somewhere out there. It was a pretty exciting game last Saturday in more ways than one. I know my husband will always remember that last wave our friend gave him just before the medics arrived.

To J. and K., our thoughts are with you.