I loved this little guy

[wdfifteen]

It’s been a crazy week and I don’t have a lot of people outside the situation to talk to. You guys are kinda like friends and I have to unload.
My little friend, who called me “grandpa” passed away Friday. He had struggled with cancer for a year so valiantly and with aplomb that few adults could muster. He never complained when he had to carry his 15 pound backpack with its batteries and pumps and drugs and nutrients. He spent the last four months of his life plumbed up with tubes in his nose, mouth, and who knows where else. He accepted his situation with a grace than none of the adults around him were able to maintain for long. I would see him in the most horrible situations, with his radiation helmet on and tubes running out of him and I would want to break down and cry, but he would look at me with a bright smile and hold his arms out for a hug. I hope, if I am ever in such a state, that I can maintain the loving grace that that little boy bestowed on those around him.
I am also pissed – so f**king pissed - at his POS father who should rot in hell, who seldom appeared at the hospital. When Brodie got sick, friends, strangers, family – everyone - stepped up to help the family with money, a house to live in, so much food and so many toys that they had to give it way - but his POS father stepped back. The POS Harley freak's first comment when he heard the little guy had cancer was, “I’m not selling my bike.” He took the family to court to have his child support commitment lowered. Yes, when his family needed him the most he sued them for permission to give then less support. When his family needed him most and everyone else was helping out, he decided he was paying too much. The boy passed away Friday and on Saturday he asked the mother’s family if they would pay him for the hours of work he missed while sitting in the hospital with his dying son. There is a special place in hell for people like this POS.
I was privileged to be there when Brodie made his last efforts at life. I would like to say he passed away peacefully, but he had hoses and tubes running everywhere – he looked like a science experiment – but he took his last breath with the same grace with which he led his life.
After he stopped breathing his mother removed all the tubes and crap and bathed him and held him in her lap and rocked him and for the first time in a year he looked like a normal, sleeping, seven year old boy.
I am the doer in any situation. When there is something to be done I can’t just sit and be like so many people can. (On the other hand, I have found “parade rest” to be a fantastic solution to those situations where there is nothing to be done. Who would have thought parade duty would ever be worth anything?) So I gratefully accepted the task of handling the paperwork.
The family’s choice was to have the cancer tissues excised for research and have the rest of Brodin’s body cremated. I had to transport the papers from the family to the crematorium, and I have to say, my mental images of that sweet little boy, pale as he was in death, lying on his mother’s shoulder, looking for all the world like a normal seven year old – and the thought of that sweet little face being consumed by the fire – it just rips my guts out.
I spend much of my free time with Brodin’s identical twin brother and his older brother, playing and being silly and trying to teach them how to be men. God knows with the father they have they need SOMEONE to teach them what it means to be a man. I'm still finding my with how to talk about Brodin and his death with the other two. I also struggle with the situation with their father. They adore him, and it is so hard not to scream, "Your father is a worthless POS."

[ben parrish]

I know your not looking for accolades, but your time with him was a special commitment that most would not make. Thank you for being the guy that he and the family needed...they still need you.
Life is odd, those that are innocent pay the price for those of us that are not.

[KaptKaos]

Sorry for your loss. Prayers sent for Brodie and those who cared for him.

[Superman]

I have no words. Prayers, I have.

[nostatic]

God speed

[Oh Haha]

I must have got something in my eye whilst reading that....



Take comfort(if even a small amount) in that he saw you as a friend. No matter what his father did or didn't do you were there for him.

[oldE]

Patrick,

Glad you felt you could vent. Glad you could be there for such great kids as Brodie and his brother. The boy will know some day what a failure his father is, but he will probably still love him. There is that capacity in many people.

Carry the memory of Brodie with you and thank you for sharing him with us.
We tend to get so wrapped up in our own little problems we forget what a valiant struggle some lead.

Prayers
Les

[E38Driver]

It seems to be very dusty in here, my eyes are leaking. Good on you for being there and may the POS father rot in HE-double hockey sticks.

Dave

[Jim Bremner]

Heavy to read this. Dear Lord, please let us cure cancer. Amen.

[onewhippedpuppy]

You are a good man Patrick, and I can assure you that your presence and help means more than you'll ever know. God bless you and that family, and take solace in the fact that Brodie is a healthy happy child in heaven.

[tweezers74]

hugs and my thoughts are with you and his family. And this is exactly why I only did adult oncology. Would never be able to handle the kiddos.

[Evans, Marv]

Thank goodness there are very special people like you in the world. It takes a very big person inside to care and fill in the void like you did. I'm sure you benefited from the experience knowing how much capacity for caring you can give and how you have that courage and caring capacity to fill in where some others are so lacking. You are right that the father is a real POS, but people like him die having left emptiness behind them, whereas people like you die with the knowledge you have filled such emptiness with love and caring and made it possible for others to deal with losses and tragedy.

[gsxrken]

I'm sorry to hear about your pal. I'm sure you made him feel loved, which is all you could do.
He can rest in peace and comfort now.

[livi]

Sorry. Life kind of swings between suffering and boredom.

[NeedSpace]

Thanks for sharing. It is people like you who give kids the fighting chance to be a good stable person despite their situation.

[DanielDudley]

None of us will ever get out of this world alive. But if we are lucky we get to experience love, and returning love.

That is a full life.

[pete3799]

Rest in peace Brodie.
You're a good man for being there for him.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, but love leaves a memory that no one can steal."

[Chocaholic]

You did a mitzvah. A wonderful gift to Brodie and his family. Be proud of yourself. Be happy for Brodie. His suffering is over. Cancer is a brutal villian. The worst imaginable.

[shadowjack1]

With tears in my eyes I pray for the little one.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Thank you for what you have done for Brodie and his family. There is also a special place for Brodie and people like you!

Do not dwell on the POS. His rewards for what he sows are in the future. Live your life as the MAN you are. You have our respect and admiration!