A Sad Detour

For those who do not know, my oldest nephew Stephen has been fighting a particularly nasty type of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma for the last 14 months. Unfortunately last week on Friday the cancer proved to be too much, and he passed away in the morning. If one can possibly find a positive thing to say about such a tragic end to his 19 years, at least Stephen got to do some very fun things before the end. He was able to graduate high school with his class despite the fact that he was in the hospital for extended stays during his senior year. He was a make a wish recipient. His wish was to go to an Ozzy Ozbourne concert and meet Ozzy after the concert. There were some very cool pictures of Stephen and his friends in the limo to the concert and then others of Stephen with Ozzy. Also less than a month ago he took a trip to Disney World with his mother, step father #2, and the kids. Jamie was not originally a part of this trip, but knowing a good opportunity when he sees it was able to concoct a scam with Glenn to surprise Stephen and his brothers. Jamie and Glenn showed up and surprised them one morning most effectively. From what I have heard, it turned out to be a great trip.

So as soon as the funeral plans were decided upon, I got a leave of absence from the tour to fly back to Indiana so that I could attend. Say what you will about NETworks and non union tours, but they were extremely gracious about granting me my leave, and paying all of my travel expenses. As a tribute to Stephen, I found a CD of piano covers of Metallica tunes which we played in the background before the funeral. Also I sat down and lifted the melody of one of the less inappropriate songs to play on the flute as they carried the casket out of the church. Playing at funerals is my way of contributing, and I just know that Stephen is somewhere laughing his butt off at the idea of me playing a Metallica tune on the flute at his funeral!

I am now back with the tour in California. I only missed the two performances in San Luis Obispo. I made a short visit to Disneyland this afternoon, and now I am sitting in my hotel room in Escondido. I will give a full report on my crazy visit to Disneyland later. (I really need to just commit to an actual trip to Disneyland one day. These partial day "running around like a mad person" trips are just not cutting it!) I will also give a report on my visit with Nancy and Deb. They are seeing the show tomorrow, and we are having dinner on Sunday.