Happy Birthday, Jack

Happy Birthday, Jack. He celebrated his last birthday twenty years ago Feb. 3, 2004.

I use the word ‘celebrate’ loosely. Yes, there were balloons, cards, flowers, visits, phone calls, all the makings of a celebration, but… He was in a hospital room, losing the battle with acute rejection of a lung he had received three years earlier.

But on this day denial was the unspoken theme. He was making plans to go home, anticipating a visit from his favorite sister, joking, laughing, ignoring the reality his life was seeping away.

He was weak, unable to walk to the bathroom, tiring easily with conversations, but tolerant of relentless tests attempting to find a way to prolong his life.

He was ending his 67th year, a retired cowboy and rancher, a portrait artist, a chuckwagon builder, and a man who cared and was cared about. So many faces, so many talents, so many stories, all add to the recollections of his life.

One would think memories would fade in twenty years, and certainly some have, but his humor, the heat of his passion, the boundaries he honored, have remained vivid.

Birthdays weren’t a big thing to him, so celebrating the day he was born didn’t require a big party, a special cake, a bunch of gifts. It was another day to get up and do what needed to get done. And on this day, what needed to get done was to plan for the day he would return home: figure out who could be there to help him, would he need physical therapy, and if so where would that be?

He lived another 26 days: some good, some not so good, but no complaints, just glad he had three years he wouldn’t have had if not for the transplant surgery. During those almost four weeks, he received a Happy Anniversary card on Valentines Day, he spent time with family members, he had a heart attack followed by surgery putting in four stents, he grew weaker, and finally he whispered ‘It’s time’ as he stared at a vista no one else could see.

He left special memories for those who knew him. Twenty years have passed, and he would be 88 years old. Happy Birthday Jack.