My Brother Brandon

   I received this text from my friend Nancy last night at 10:45 pm:

"Phil, I'm sorry to tell you that Mary texted me a little bit ago that Brandon died tonight.  It's not out to the general public but I wanted you to know before you found out on Facebook or some other way.  My heart breaks for Danielle and those little guys!! We continue to pray for complete healing for you you as we pray for Brandon's family." 

   I never met Brandon, but I knew him well.  I never spent time with him, but we were brothers.  I never even spoke to him on the phone, but I knew to some degree what he was going through. This is not as confusing as you may think.  Brandon had lymphoma too.  We were tracking each other's progress on line and had initial plans to meet a week from today at a benefit that was to be held for him.  We had common prayer warriors who knew both of us well (Bev, Judy, Nancy, to name a few) even though the two of us had never met.  We kept hearing from them how we needed to meet each other soon and share war stories and encouragement.  Brandon and his wife Danielle watched my blog while I charted their progress through friends and Facebook.  But during a respite in his treatments a few months ago, Brandon's cancer returned with a vengeance and the treatments he had to have in Milwaukee could not interrupt the progress of his disease.  Through it all I marveled at the faith and the strength of Danielle as she tended to Brandon's needs while simultaneously working hard on the craft of motherhood for her two little boys. A few days ago, Danielle posted that Brandon needed a feeding tube and things were not looking good.  Then this morning she posted the following passage of her Facebook page:

"I write this with great sadness in my heart. My loving husband, Brandon, passed away last night. As many of you know Brandon had fought a long, very hard battle with a very aggressive cancer. Many of us would not have been able to go through a lot of the things Brandon had to endure. He went through so much pain and suffering-especially in the last week of his life. He was my best friend and my other half. A part of me died with him last night. He was the best husband and the BEST dad to our boys. I have peace in my heart knowing he is in heaven now and no more pain!! The last couple days were extremely difficult for me and I'm so thankful I have family and close friends who were there to support the many many difficult decisions that fell into my shoulders. So many life challenges are ahead of me but I know Brandon has a strong soul and he will be right by my side guiding me along the way. Please pray for my kids, they are going to miss their daddy so much! Once we have visitation and funeral arrangements in place I will let you all know." 

   I hate cancer.  This disease is vicious.   I hateithateithateit.  But when it affects the young, the children, the parents of pre-schoolers, I find myself loathing the disease in a whole new way.  

God, what is going on?  Why is this thing allowed to do what it is doing to families?  You don't owe me an answer, but it honestly makes no sense.  Bless Danielle and the boys.  I don't know what else to say so I leave it at that today.