In Ohio

This week I am in Ohio with my dad, my sister, my sister in law and my great niece (who is basically uber-great, by the way). Oh yeah. And with John.

He is in ICU and we are allowed just a few minutes every 4 hours to be with him. When I am there and say, 'Hi John', whether his eyes are closed or not, he reaches out and holds my hand. Have I ever held his hand like this before? It is profoundly comforting. He is distracted by the fight of his life and yet he makes the effort to ease my distress. When he notices my tears, he smiles. When I told him his best ever child-hood friend called me to see how he was and to pass on his prayers, John said, 'oh, that must be hard for him to know how sick I am'.

All of us are hugging and blinking back tears while we are with each other. We are uttering those heart-good words to each other and about each other. And I pray for a miracle.

If I hold your hand more than you think is necessary, know that it is necessary for me!

John

John is my brother. Here he is with his granddaughter, Skye. This was taken on a happy day we had at McDonalds in Cincinnati.

After outgrowing a pretty intense 'torture' stage as a boy, he grew into an older brother who was the coolest thing on the block. I always wanted to be where he was. Whether playing army in the sugar cane fields, or riding the twister mat down the back hill, or playing soft ball in the vacant lot, his games became my favorite things to do.

He was crazy and crude and completely untame. Even four years in the US Navy didn't dim that glint of 'wild child' in his eye. Its pretty obvious that I chose Dale because he has many of the untame qualities that became to me the definition of what makes a man.

And now John is having to find that crazy zest for a new 'game'. He is fighting against cancer this time. Pray for him, please. Cancer is an ugly beast, but we Crabbs don't quit, do we. If you were here in the room, John, I would geek you.