Johnny
Johnny. We sat in the funeral parlor and recorded Johnny. He graduated from Catholic Central. Big deal. He attended Broome Community College. Not good enough to be recorded ... he did not graduate. He was a Vice-president of Sysco Foods. This was good. He had done things at Sysco that no one at Sysco had ever done and probably never will. Great. But this was not Johnny. This did not come close.
Pick a situation ... any situation ... and Johnny could make you laugh. As a child, Johnny used to line his pockets with money from people who would take him up on his greatest challenge: "I'll bet you I can make you laugh." No matter the sum of your wager or the severity of your mood ... Johnny would take your money in a heartbeat. And you would be happy to give it. He could always make you laugh.
Throughout the course of his cancer Johnny kept his sense of humor. He met everyone with a smile and an optimistic greeting. He was really glad to see you and he made you glad to see him. He continued to joke and tease until he could no longer speak ... and even then .. even in his final breaths he managed one last tease. If only I were Johnny ... I could tell his final joke ... but Peggy knows ... and Peggy laughed and laughed. We all did. Johnny got her ... one last time.
This was Johnny. Johnny was a smile. And he was a brave smile. He laughed through his adversity and maintained his faith. He was true to himself. He was true to his family. He was true to his God. God made Johnny to be Johnny and no cancer ... nothing on this earth would change him.
As his pain grew and his path became more certain ... Johnny donned himself in medals ... and never was a man more deserving of these medals. They were his badges of courage ... and they honored him and served him well.
Johnny had said from the beginning that he had a role to fulfill in all of this. He felt he had been picked for some greater purpose. He did not know what that purpose was. And we prayed so hard ... we prayed so long ... for the miracle which would save him from his fate. Our prayer for a miracle seemed unanswered.
But as Johnny grew weaker those around him grew stronger. As Johnny slipped away from us ... we grew closer. And the closeness was not a closeness of geography ... not a closeness of time or space ... it was a closeness in spirit ... a closeness in our hearts. Johnny's courage became the backdrop as we rediscovered long lost family. Family torn over time ... and scattered across the country became one and familiar in this closeness of our hearts. I can feel them with me now. And they can feel us.
Oh we have our miracle. It did not happen. It is not old or done. It is happening. And we should keep on praying. There is a power in prayer and Johnny's role was to let us see that power. The miracle, I think, is family. We ... you and I ... we are the miracle. Not in and of ourselves but in synergy with each other. As family. One mind and one heart. The essence of the Body of Christ.
I was proud to walk with my brother as we buried my father. I was proud to watch as Johnny's son told his father "You can go dad. Let it go." And I am proud to bury Johnny today. I am not afraid, or sad or mad. I stand tall and confident in my own human frailty. I know we are in good hands. I am in your hands. I am in God's hands.
Johnny showed me and now I know. Thank you Johnny. I'll see you soon.
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