Avionscreator

It is with a heavy heart that I regret to inform you that my sweet big brother, Joe, has lost his 8 month battle with brain cancer this morning at 5:30am. He passed peacefully in his sleep at home, in his own room, surrounded by his loved ones. He fought a courageous fight with the love and support of his friends and family. Joe will always be remembered for his passion for life, learning new languages--10 to be exact, 8 self taught--and cultivating his artistic abilities. Not only did Joe have a talent for drawing, he also had a talent for polishing aluminum motorcycle parts, not to mention helping our dad in his shop with the restoration of countless antique motorcycles. Joe also had a passion for all kinds of music, especially classical. His favorite composers are John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and he especially loved Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He also loved everything from 'Try To Remember' by Kingston Trio to Weird Al--he new every song by heart--but, he especially loved The Beatles song 'Come Together', it made him laugh out loud every time he heard it. He also loved watching art supply critiques and antique restoration videos on YouTube. Joe loved all kinds of movies from '20,000 Leagues Under The Sea' to 'Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory', 'Wizard Of Oz', and 'Swiss Family Robinson'. He also loved animated films, his favorite Disney film was 'Lilo & Stitch' and his favorite Anime films were 'Lupin III: The Castle Of Cagliostro' and especially 'My Neighbor Tortoro', which was his favorite movie of all. The last two movies Joe watched were 'The Ten Commandments', 'The Valley Of Pharaohs', and 'The Egyptian'. Joe was known for his love of food and cooking, and especially smoking meat in his Masterbuilt Smoker. He was also known for his love of coffee, hence the nickname Coffee Hound. When Joe wasn't drinking Don Francisco Vanilla Nut or Butterscotch coffee out of his Avion mug, iced water out of his favorite tumbler--covered with his characters, of course--you could catch him drinking Carlo Rossi Burgundy out of his Avion wine glass. When Joe had a hankering for something sweet, he'd reach for a Whatchamacallit candy bar, a Smith's Bakery Danish Twist, or a bowl of Dewar's Mint and Chip ice cream. We would like to thank all of the doctors, nurses, EMTs, and physical therapists from Memorial Hospital, Encompass Rehabilitation Center, and Hoffman Hospice for all of their help, love, and support through all three sugeries these past 8 months. Joe was the light of our family and his absence leaves a huge, gaping hole in all of our hearts, but we all find comfort in knowing that he is not suffering in pain anymore and that he is in a better place, wrapped in the arms of Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven. Joe, we will all miss you tremendously and we all love you and hope that you will watch over all us until we meet again. You will always be my BBBFF...big brother best friend forever...I love you, 'Joefy, the brofy he deserves a trophy'<3

As many of you know, I was released from the hospital on the 5th and time has been passing really slowly. I hope you had a happy Easter. Mine hasn’t been so good. I had to have my sister help me type this journal. I’ve actually been quite miserable. I don’t know if you’ll ever hear from me again. I’m still recoverying. I hope the therapists come in time to help my condition improve, as I feel miserable because I’m having difficulty accomplishing even the smallest of tasks. I wish you all the best and i'm hopeful for my own recovery.

Well, I was quite tired yesterday despite it being my birthday. My sister had a cake made featuring Avion printed on it, and I think it was really cute. We had pizza and I got some Tolkien books to read. It was good to have my family over for the party, and I ate plenty and had fun.

Today I also went to the clinic and found out that the surgeon, on the day of the surgery, had removed mostly dead tissue, with only a small trace of living cancer cells he had to find under a microscope. Removing dead tissue helped, of course, and about next week I will have my sutures and staples removed before starting again with chemotherapy. I'll be looking forward to that.

Meanwhile I have been busying myself watching videos about cleaning dirty rugs, restoring antiques, and reviews of Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils. Why the last one, you may ask? Well, because I bought a set of 24 of them, and am anxious to be able to finally use my right hand again. Then again... I suppose I could use my left for a time being.

Current queue:

Sun_Burnt_Wolf on fA--1 animated icon commission (sketched, cleanup begun);

DrebinGrey39--1 four-character commission (commissions begun);

SilverDruid on fA--1 single character commission;

DanielMania123--1 3-character commission.

Well, it’s bee two weeks since my surgery and I still have not been able to regain my drawing ability in my right hand. I’ve tried to use the putty that I got from Encompass Health to help hold the pencil or pen, but my fingers are still numb. I’m somehow afraid to make an effort to improve and I also fear that I will never recover my ability to draw. Should I pray and hope for a miracle? Or should I just call it quits and move on? It certainly isn’t looking very promising to me.

But then again, I will be 44 tomorrow, so maybe that’s something to look forward to. Maybe I can forget my troubles for a while and celebrate my birthday instead.

Tomorrow morning I need to visit a doctor, so just a quick heads-up. Still not having any luck with my right hand, but maybe I can get an occupational therapist to help me with that.

Current queue:

Sun_Burnt_Wolf on fA--1 animated icon commission (sketched, cleanup begun);

@DrebinGrey39--1 four-character commission (commissions begun);

SilverDruid on fA--1 single character commission;

DanielMania123--1 3-character commission.