Monday was a day that ordinarily would have been considered good... as Mondays go. Work went smoothly and I had my first Boy Scout troop meeting of the year which is always nice to get back to... I missed those 31 rambunxious Scouts over the summer! Anything good however was obliterated by the news that Mikey Czech lost his battle with cancer, or more specifically with the drugs that attacked the tumor but also ravaged his 11 year old body.
It's hard to explain why the loss of a young boy whom I never met would affect me so profoundly. I heard about Mikey through a friend at work whose son was best friends with Mikey. His was a story that was so captivating because of his positive attitude after being diagnosed with brain cancer on his 11th birthday, yet intent on "being the next Lance Armstrong" who beats cancer against all odds. So I decided to bring a sign with me as I summited my first mountain peak in Nevada last spring with a message for Mikey. That idea spawned many more signs with many more messages to special people as I continued to train, but there was always a sign for Mikey at each big mountain top so that he would know I was thinking of him. I also carried his name with me on my special shirt to many, many different places.
No I didn't actually know him, but I did get regular updates about how he was doing through e-mail blasts from his parents to the many, many concerned people. From those updates I did feel as if I knew him a bit because I regularly heard about his successes, setbacks and family adventures. And yes, I always intended to reach out to him when my journey was done to be able to say I met the young man with the incredible outlook on life.
It seemed like there was always enough time tomorrow to make that meeting happen. Others who added names to my shirt thought the same thing about their friends or loved ones and found out that there aren't always tommorrows available to do it. I think many times grief is a manifestation of opportunity lost. You know, that opportunity that was right there for the taking, but you failed to reach for it... the opportunity to call and say I love you, or the opportunity to visit and show you are thinking of him/her, to give a spontaneous warm hug and smile to someone in need, or the opportunity to spend a few minutes to touch the life of a stranger in even the most seemingly insignificant way. This week for me, it was the lost opportunity to touch/or be touched by a young boy's great attitude while facing tough odds, and his persistence to show others how we should all live our lives, every day, no matter what challenges we are faced with.
Mikey Czech
1/6/1997 - 9/7/2008
An excerpt from a conversation between Mikey and his dad Steve before meeting the Pope this past spring:
"...Dad, can I ask The Pope some questions?" Not knowing where he was going with this, I replied, "What questions do you have for The Pope?" Mikey replied, "Well I have two questions. First, I want to ask him what school he went to to learn how to be The Pope. Second I want to ask him: If he dies, how do we know that the guy who replaces him as Pope is going to know what to do?" I replied that he should probably let The Pope do the talking.
