Some weeks back I had a Twitter conversation with JT88keys, wherein he mentioned shaving his head. I responded with some bad cancer patient joke. To which he replied, he'd never be mistaken for having cancer because he's got some meat on his bones.
Ok ok I know I'm an asshole for making cancer jokes. They're tasteless, as am I. Both my parents and older brother have had cancer. It's terrible and frightening, therefore I must make jokes.
Back to my conversation with JT, it reminded me of another interaction from a few years back. Without further ado here is, crazy stuff my friends say.
I met Adrian while I was still in high school he was a mentor for our Hispanic Student Union and close friend to the group advisor. Adrian remained in my lige through mutual friends and involvement in various organizations such as lulac.
He was the child of Mexican immigrants, grew up here in Las Vegas. An alumni of my high school and college. He became a successful lawyer with his own firm. Later in his career he became an immigration attorney for Catholic Charities. Seriously what a great guy.
One day I saw Adrian shopping at my work. He looked good! You see he had previously been fat. By the looks of it he had lost at least 100lbs and shaved his head to.
"Adrian its so good to see you! Wow you look amazing! You lost so much weight!"
"Hi girl, yes, I did. Cancer will do that to you. Lost all my hair to." He said with a twinkle in his eye and a warm smile on his face.
Turns out he had been fighting cancer for some time at that point. Losing a lot of weight in the process. He was in remission when we met this day. In celebration of his better health he told me he would be running his first half marathon. He did in fact run several.
The cancer did return. He was actively being treated when he caught the flu which turned to pneumonia. Weeks passed we followed his Facebook updates about the flu not getting better. Finally he made the trip to the hospital. Sadly he passed away from complications.
He was a true champion for the dispossessed. His loss is still felt by all who knew him. He continues to inspire us. Since he wouldn't want this to end on a sad note I'll share my favorite photos of him.
Sorry he's gone. So many jerkoffs in the world, why lose him.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty shitty to have him pass away. He was changing lives with his activism. He did inspire so many through his work. So many of the young people he's inspired are doing great things. One of them is studying politics and religion at Yale. Another is attending law school in Texas. Yet another is getting her doctorate in women's studies in Minnesota. One of our close mutual friends is a professor at Unlv. His life was not wasted at all.
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