Determined AND funny….

This picture tells you more about Randy than 50 of these posts probably could. He was not just smiling here because he was having lunch – he was genuinely happy.

Here was the scenario…..

Randy woke up one day and was having problems moving his left side. He would try getting up and walking around, but his left side was completely paralyzed. We later learned that this was an unfortunate side effect of the radiation he had had in 2000 to fight the brain cancer that I’m sure will be mentioned in greater detail in future posts. Anyway, he had a mini brain hemorrhage from a small ruptured blood vessel in his brain and it shut his left side down! We took him to a local hospital and they did a quick scan and didn’t know what to make of all the things going on in that head of his. So, we were sent by ambulance to a hospital in Indianapolis.

But that’s not the point of this picture…..

I decided to tell the story of this picture because even though the situation was NOT a good one (they were talking major brain surgery), this young man NEVER let this situation get him down! He sat in that hospital bed and rattled off joke after joke after joke – all off the top of his head! He just kept going. While his mother and I were trying to figure out what was the best course of action for him, Randy was smiling and telling us jokes every chance he got. And when they brought him his lunch, even though his left side was completely useless when this picture was taken, he gave the biggest smile like he didn’t have a care in the world….

Ultimately, we ended up deciding against the surgery, his brain healed itself, and he was back home and at his special needs dance by the end of that week with FULL USE of his left side again (I’ll post that pic some other time). But this picture is something I wanted to show whoever may see these posts. Randy was so resilient in his life. He was counted out by doctors his entire life and written off as “terminal” when he was just 4 years old. But he carried on through it all. And he did so with a joke and a smile.

This picture is a symbol of the resilience, strength, and humor that Randy carried with him throughout his life. I look at this picture…..and I am so proud of my son. Still am….