Strongest Man

 In a text, he was referred to as the "strongest man I ever knew."  Some of us knew him before he got sick.  He was strong, for sure, and nimble and fast.  He loved to play basketball, and he did it well.  He danced with his wife.  

At a young age, he was diagnosed with ALS.  It is a terrible disease that takes away parts of a person, bit by bit, a little at a time.  The average time a person can live with ALS is 2-5 years.  Wayne lived well over twenty with it.  He is the strongest man some have ever known.  

He was determined and self-disciplined and some might say stubborn.  He did not feel sorry for himself, he reached out to touch the lives of those he knew when they were struggling.  Few of us have had struggles like he.  Many of us fail to get past our own navels when we struggle.  Not so, Wayne.

When his wife died of meningitis caused by a tainted spinal injection, he lost his main caregiver.  She was the physical strength, he was the emotional strength.  Most anyone would have been angry or bitter, for it seems the tainting of that medicine was due to neglect and possibly greed.  But he was neither angry nor bitter and would ask, "why should I be? I am a blessed man."

He buried his firstborn, after years of struggles with that child, struggles that would have crushed a weaker man.  But he was not crushed because he was a strong, strong man.  

Some believed he would not make it to the dedication of the inner-city daycare that bears his name.  Not only did he see the dedication, he witnessed the 20th anniversary.  He cared for people.  Many of us do.  But, he cared for people when anyone would have understood his throwing in the towel and giving up, for there was only the inevitable end to look forward to.  He looked forward to so much more than the ravages of his disease.  He gave so much more than a man in his position would have been expected to give.  He was a strong man who was an inspiration to all who knew him.

His struggles ended Thursday night.  He will be deeply missed by all who loved him, especially his only surviving son.  He truly fought the good fight.  We grieve, not as those without hope.  Many have expressed the comfort they feel imagining he is in some church league basketball game to be followed by a time of dancing with his Diana.