July 07, 2007
I was writing a song today and for some reason the melody reminded me of Tylor Lauck, an inspirational fourteen-year-old cancer patient whom I befriended a few years ago. He was a great kid. I'll never forget the time I went up to Ohio to visit him. Before I even sat down on the couch he asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks.
“What should I wear at my funeral?” he asked me.
Tylor was really good at trying to disarm people with his wonderful dry sense of humor. I was ready for him though.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Let’s look at your clothes and see.”
He took me back to where his clothes were and showed me a nice shirt.
“That’s cool,” I said. “Which pants do you want to wear?”
He pulled out a pair of shorts and held them up to me.
“You can’t wear those,” I said.
“Why not?”
“Dude, you’re going to meet God for goodness sake. You can’t be wearing short pants!”
“Oh yeah,” he said, and burst out laughing. The look on his face was priceless.
He had that same look on his face when I flew up to Findlay to say goodbye to him for the last time.
He had been telling his mum and dad for weeks that he thought I was going to surprise him with a visit.
After hearing from his parents that he was not doing very well, I decided to make the surprise visit come true.
And what a surprise it was.
Tylor’s mum and dad took him to his favorite restaurant. This was a tough task though because Tylor has lost the use of his arm and he only has one leg so he could not move around very well. And because of the tumor pressing on his brain, words were hard for him to find, which frustrated him terribly.
Through the window I could see the hostess seating the family. Once they were settled, I called Tylor on his cell phone. I could hear in his voice that he was frustrated at not being able to form words very well. He had a hard time speaking to me.
“Hey Tylor.” I said. “How are you doing?”
“Okay I guess.”
“What are you doing?”
“Outback. Umm.”
“Oh you’re at your favorite restaurant. The Outback steakhouse.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
“When should I come and see you, buddy?”
“Anytime,” came his reply.
“How about now?” I said, tapping him on the arm.
He turned and looked over his shoulder and saw it was me. Although he could not smile very well because of partial paralysis, his whole face lit up and his eyes sparkled as they danced with excitement.
I will not forget the look of joy on his face as long as I live. It was one of the most memorable moments I have ever experienced.
We could not stay for long because Tylor was too weak, but he held my hand for the rest of the meal and kept on looking at me and shaking his head with smiling eyes. I know if he could have found the words he would have given me all kinds of nonsense spearheaded by his incredible wit.
I spent a heartwarming, loving, wonderful weekend with Tylor and his family.
It was so incredibly hard to say goodbye to Tylor because I knew I would not see him again until the next surprise visit, this time at the Pearly Gates.
He died very soon after that.
(Tylor. I think about you often my friend. And I know your wonderful family does too.)
Posted by trevor at July 7, 2007 04:34 PM
Comments
i found you on accident, in the middle of a google image search, and just tore through five of your entries.
i will be back to read the rest, but wanted you to know that your stories and style are fantastic.
Posted by: a at July 11, 2007 08:37 PM