Whats important?

My dad once told me "People are the most important thing in your life"

I believe that, and have tried to live that. I don't always succeed.

Last Monday, my mom told me my brothers youngest, a lanky 20 year old who has been fighting cancer, wasn't doing well. They had been camping and Monday he complained of stiffness in his back, and pain; his parents took him to the local hospital, which did some imaging, and said they needed to talk to his oncologist at the university hospital; the university doctor said he should be down there right away, so they took him by ambulance to the university hospital. There, the university doctors did some MRI's, and told my brother the cancer was growing at a rate that meant they could no longer do anything to stop it. It had slowed some after MONTHS of chemo and radiation treatments, which left the poor kid really beat up mentally and physically. He appeared to have been on the rebound, then this.

They brought him home Tuesday, he was on oxygen by Wednesday, and Thursday he passed away at home .

 I had been there to support my brother and sister in law, and had stepped out to get a breather and some lunch when my niece called and said he was gone.

I have been dealing with distant relatives and such since Thursday, and today was OK, until mom called to say my brother is now having nightmares about seeing his son deceased...I have that image as well, and when i do, all I can do is cry and cry some more..

My honey and I experienced the agony of watching someone die at home when my mother in law who was staying with us got cancer and slowly went from vibrant and spunky to bedridden and drugged up to deal with the pain.

So if I am absent from here and the groups I belong too, my family is very important to me, and right now I need them as much as they need me. I will be back to writing my usually sarcastic drivel soon enough. Thanks.