I wrote not long ago about my Uncle Donnie but then quickly made the entry private out of concern for his privacy. In case you didn’t see it or hear it from me directly, here’s the catch-up version: Don is my mom’s youngest brother at 47. Not long ago my parents brought him up to Shreveport to find a doctor as he was having serious back problems and couldn’t even walk without excruciating pain. We assumed it was something like a slipped disc.

It was cancer - tumors growing on his spine and in other areas of his body. It’s a small-cell cancer that they said would respond well to chemo but would come back quickly. Don’s been receiving radiation and was set to start chemo tomorrow. Last night he started running fever, and my parents rushed him to the hospital where he experienced some respiratory distress. They’re running tests right now, trying to determine whether it’s the cancer or something like pneumonia (since his immune system was suppressed by the radiation).

We would sure appreciate your prayers. (Regardless of my stance on religious cosmology, I do believe in the power of prayer.) So, please, do whatever works for you: light a candle, send some light, raise energy, or pray to your God/gods. Not just for Donnie but more especially for his son, who is 20-ish and very close to his dad. And for my mom and her other three brothers, all of whom are facing the loss of their baby brother.

As for me, well, that’s a conversation for later. Existential rants and carpe diems can wait. Right now I’m concentrating on loving my family through this.