Bob's Story
Friday, March 17, 2006

Bob's family shared this story with us about Bob, who passed away from a brain tumor in September, 2005. This story is about his family's belief that hope does not end with death - it just changes. It includes photographs taken by Bob with captions that convey the meaning and value of hope.

This story, and its beautiful accompanying photographs, share a family's perspective on hope. Bob's daughter, Maria, told us Bob was a "wonderful cook  creator of cheesecakes and other wonderful delicacies." His sense of humor was a part of him that was evidenced until shortly before he passed away. He and his wife raised 3 children and their family now includes 8 grandchildren. Bob was a junior high teacher by profession and volunteered his time with Boy Scouts of America and other causes in which he believed. He was also a gifted photographer. Despite their loss, Bob's family shares their hope in this story. 

Here is his daughter, Maria's perspective on hope in relation to her family's experiences with this illness.

Hope. Simple and pure. It is the sole word that has enabled many journeys to continue. Our journey as a family has taken an unwanted life-ending detour. Our hope, however, has not vanished.

Our hope has merely changed. Instead of thinking in terms of a saved life, we think in terms of life continuing. Life without a husband, father, grandfather and friend has not taken our hope away. There is still life where there is hope. The hope now is that we can remember that we shared the beauty of life with our loved one. The hope is that another life may be saved. Now, the hope is that we will continue to see the beauty in life and its challenges. Hope. Simple and pure.

It is with great clarity that I realize that the greatest gift that can be given is hope. Hope can be seen by some as encouraging another to put their head in the sand. Hope should not be seen as encouraging ignorance or denial. It should, in contrast, be viewed as a brief respite to the hideous reality of statistics. It should be understood that hope allows us to see the faces that have proven these statistics wrong. It allows up to keep fighting this arduous and painful battle. Hope allows us to walk through the door into a future. Hope. Simple and pure.

It has to be made known and declared that hope is the purest form of medicine. Hope is a medicine that can be used to treat the patient, not as a diagnosis, but as a complete person. It has to be understood that hope is a true friend of life. Hope IS the purest form of medicine.

Simple and pure.

Click here to view additional photographs by Bob