Hi everyone, thanks for visiting the page. As many of you know, my brother Timothy died of brain cancer in 1985. The events that transpired over that year of his illness transformed my life and the lives of countless others. One of particular significance was a brief stretch in time when he regained his speech and expressed his desire to go to Disneyland. Make A Wish facilitated that experience, which provided Timothy and my family some solace in an otherwise trying time. Our late family friend, Joe Moriarty, wrote the following after Timothy’s passing. I think it encapsulates how we try to translate Timothy’s life and death into positive change, which is the inspiration for this page. Thanks for taking the time to read my story and for all your support!
Chris
Eagles don’t flock-you only see them one at a time.
For this, the eagle has become a symbol of freedom.
Tim Vanek is an eagle-one of a kind-and now he’s free.
One hundred years ago Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a vividly descriptive poem called “The Eagle”:
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands.
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
and like a thunderbolt he falls.
Cancer was the thunderbolt that felled a young eagle.
And we grieve.
In the 16th century another English poet, Ben Johnson, lost his seven-year old son. He wrote:
Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
My sin was too much hope of thee, loved boy.
Seven years thou wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
And we grieve.
As Catholics we believe our prayers are always answered-
but not always in the way we hoped.
Allow me to guess how they were answered-
And why this young eagle’s life made a difference.
You see, Tim changed us forever.
Look inside yourself,
and remember how you felt when you knew Tim had cancer.
Reflect on how the events of those months changed you -
and how they must change the rest of your life.
Translate your grief into good works.
When you see a picture of an eagle,
think of Timmy soaring free.
Make a resolution to do something nice for someone-
a kindness you often think of but seldom find the time to do.
And do it in memory of Timmy, the eagle.