‘I love you far too much.’
| — | (via imthemonalisa) |
| — | Amelia Pond (via dawndimaria) |
Hello. My hometown, the Scranton area in Pennsylvania, is on a mission and in need of as much help as we can get. My high school, Riverside, has graduating classes of about 90 kids, that was about my class. So, everyone knows everyone, their mother, and their grandparents. This year they have about the same amount, but the class of 2012 has one special circumstance. Gary Lukasweicz. I honestly don’t even really know him that well; I’ve only talked to him a few times. But the thing about him is, he inspires even those who don’t know him personally. Gary was diagnosed with cancer towards the end of his sophomore year of high school. He did chemotherapy and all of the necessary things, and he still managed to come to school. He still worked hard in all of his classes and got good grades. And to my surprise, in the spring, I would still see him in his uniform sitting in the dugout at baseball games. I always felt bad because it was so warm and he still needed a jacket, because he’d get sick easily, but a part of me just couldn’t help but be happy for him, because no matter what his circumstances were, he still enjoyed and valued his life and he would not let anything stop him from what he wanted to do, and you could just tell. I’m sure you’ve met a person before who just radiates energy and strength; Gary is one of those people. Gary has cancer, and he still radiates more strength and energy than anyone even though he has so little left. In August, Gary had his last session of chemotherapy. August 24, 2011. I only remember the exact day because he set it as a Facebook status, and everyone in our community was so incredibly happy and proud. Gary beat cancer. He got to enjoy his senior Christmas dance, football and basketball games. He continued to work so hard in school, ensuring he’d graduate at the top of his class, and is now all set up to attend Villanova University next fall. But a while ago, he received terrible news, and like I said I didn’t really know him that personally so I never heard directly, but he posted a Facebook status, and it said “I want you all to know, before you hear it from somebody else, that my cancer has come back. But don’t worry I will beat it again, for good this time.” It was heart breaking, but we all believed in him and we all still do, he did it before and our community knows he can do it again. But the struggle is, Gary was placed in hospice a couple days ago, his cancer spread throughout his body, and the doctors talked time. It’s in God’s hands now, the health aspect, as we all know. But I like to believe hope and love also give people strength, and for the past day and a half, starting with an idea from a friend Mike, it has been my home town’s “mission” to get #keepfightinggarytrending on Twitter so Gary can see that if it takes the world behind him to give him that extra push, the Riverside community, and to our pleasant surprise, the whole NEPA community, will do that for him. If you don’t believe it you can search #keepfightinggary on Twitter, and see all of his truly great friends, and family, and even strangers determination to show him that he is not alone. I’m sure you’ll be very inspired by what you find. There is a whole lot of hope, and a whole lot of love. These kids are making everyone so proud of where we come from, and to know what such a small town can be capable of. The class of 2012 is remarkable. So please, interact with them, his friends and family learn his story, they know it a lot better than I do, and it’s worth knowing. Interact with our community! They’re all there too! So if you could take ten seconds of your time, join a movement that means a lot to a small town. Be there for him, his friends, his family. Tweet for Gary, and anyone you know that is too young to suffer. Tell them to keep fighting.
#keepfightinggary
#keepfightinggary
#keepfightinggary