I will never forget October 9, 1996. On that day I was looking at a CT scan of my son's head and I saw the tumor. I will also remember that when I saw the mass I said to myself like a prayer "Please, do not be rare". Less than a week later the doctors were telling us that the tumor entwined in my son's brainstem was a glioblastoma and because of where it was located he had less than a year to live. Not much is known of this type of tumor, but the doctor told us that it was not hereditary or was caused by outside agents. Small comfort.
My Lloyd was not a sickly child before the news of the tumor. He was a bright child and he was the consummate "straight man". I taught him to believe in his-self and his abilities no matter what anyone said. He would look out for the "little guy" and when his younger brother hurt his knee bike riding, Lloyd was there comforting him. He would have what I called Lloyd's Obsessions: He became interested in the whirlpool that was caused by the water going down the drain. That led to an interest in tornadoes and the weather. Another one of his obsessions were buoys. I was never sure what started that, but we talked and read about them anyway.
I had seen the world and I wanted to show it to my sons in anyway I could. I would encourage their interests. I am not trying to imply that Lloyd was perfect, he wasn't, he was just a normal little boy. He would fight, argue, and ignore his little brother. He would pout and whine to try to get his way.
Patricia Skryja-West
You can send email to Patricia at: [email protected]
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anniversary date 05-31-97
date of post 05-28-98
