Remembering Mike

Two years ago today, June 14, 2010, Uncle Mike finally and suddenly succumbed to brain cancer. He had been fighting for a few years, but there just came the point when his body couldn't handle it anymore. I remember going to his Southern California home a year or two before that with my mom and picking oranges and grapefruits from the trees that speckled his yard. He called us in to listen to a voice message from his doctors: The tumor had stopped growing. It seemed miraculous, all the fighting, the treatments and surgeries were paying off. In that moment, my uncle's eyes sparkled with a contagious joy that can only come from from allowing yourself to hope. We laughed and hugged one another. Those were the sweetest oranges I'd ever had.

I know today, as every day, Mike's daughters and son, grandkids, and extended family miss him dearly. Mike reminds us to be strong, to never give up, and more importantly, no matter how bad it gets, you have to keep a sense of humor.