You Got To Have Friends

I am sporting a new fashion statement. It is Tiffany blue rubber and says-Strength for Jimmy. Similar to the familiar Lance Armstrong yellow Live Strong bracelets, this one strikes a little closer to home. Muskogee native Jimmy Wilcoxen is undergoing chemo-therapy for Leukemia and the bracelet is one way his friends are standing by him while Jimmy goes through his treatments.

Jimmy and my two youngest children have been best buds since childhood. I answered the phone the first Sunday in October and all I could hear was sobbing. It was Catherine, shocked and terrified that a friend she considered healthy and well Saturday morning had been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease Saturday night. I asked why my Tom had not yet called and she said matter-of-factly, "why he's with Jimmy at the hospital." Tom and several other friends were camped out at the hospital in Norman, supporting Jimmy and his shocked family as they made decisions and choices as to his care.

Jimmy is now in Houston and as his Mother joyfully reported, is officially in remission. Though he has several months of rigorous treatments ahead of him, he is responding to the protocol. Jimmy is a fighter. Jimmy will be fine.

What has again been reinforced to me is how important friendships and shared histories are in each of our lives. The support that has been showered on this family cannot help but lighten the load and keep everyone optimistic. Jimmy's friends have moved his things out of his house in Norman, flown to Houston to just be with him, had these wonderful bracelets made, sent x-rated cheer up gifts and shared inside jokes with each other. They are in communication with him constantly. They have changed their pre-Christmas plans from a ski trip (since this year Jimmy won't quite be ready to go) to meeting here in Big M or Houston to all be together. They are united with the common goal of supporting their friend in any way possible. Why? Because they have always had each other's back. Because they're "tight". Because they love each other.

Encourage positive and constructive friendships in your own children. How? Offer opportunities that bring kids together and be the house where your children's friends want to be. Bake the cookies. Buy the ping pong table. Host the parties. Coach the team. Make things happen. Get to know the parents of your children's friends. Share ideas. Share experiences. Share concerns.

These kids snow-boarded, water skied, went to concerts and played tennis together. When they were younger they four-wheeled, camped out, spent the night, paint-balled, fished,hunted and just hung out. They celebrated their birthdays together. They went through puberty together. All are now in college, some at OU but all as close as phones, cars and airplanes can keep them.

These young men and women have truly grown up together. They complete each other's sentences. They know what each other is thinking. Close ties and strong friendships have prepared each of them for this detour in Jimmy's and therefore, their lives. These young adults have learned there is strength in their friendship. There is joy in their friendships. There is empathy in their friendships. There is energy in their friendships. And above all, there is life.

Share a Pint with Jimmy

OBI Blood Drive
Arrowhead Mall
Nov 22nd

Look for more details in the Muskogee Phoenix. Join others as we have the opportunity to "do something" when there has seemed so little we can do. Share a pint with Jimmy, and share your support with one of our own. See you at the mall Saturday, November 22nd.