What I had to say at my brother's service Thursday night. Please remember to be thankful for those loved ones in your life!
by Jared Cunningham on Saturday, June 4, 2011 at 11:16pm ·
I have so many things I want to say but I think that the ribbons my family is wearing sums it up. These ribbons stand for organ donation and honor the heroes who choose to be a donor. My brother was one of these heroes and because of that, even in his death he will continue to do for others what he has done for many of us his whole life… he will make people feel better just by being around him. He will enable people to keep laughing the way he made us laugh. I can still hear his. And he will continue his care and concern for the whole world and all of us still living here. In essence, he will continue to be a hero, just as he was mine.
A few weeks ago one of my closest friends Teresa received the Gift of Life by receiving a kidney transplant. Since that day I have continued to say that miracles happen every day. I didn’t believe this statement before Friday the 13th but I saw with my own eyes as Teresa was wheeled back from the OR that a miracle had just happened and I had witnessed the whole thing. Miracles happen every day. Although I lost my brother exactly one week ago at this hour, many miracles happened over the next few days as they received Jason’s Gift of Life. I encourage each of you to consider being a donor. You can be someone’s miracle… someone’s hero.
A little over 6 weeks ago I found out that a close family friend of ours had passed away unexpectedly. His name was Andrew Hideg and he was 26 years old. In perfect health and loved by many, many people, he just passed away, no determined cause. The news of Andrew shocked my brother and mother as we all had remembered the day he was born. They lived right beside us that many years ago and remain friends to this day. After talking to my family it hit me that my buddy Chad had lost his brother and Patti had lost her youngest son. I was overcome with thinking about how I would deal with such a thing. The sudden loss of my brother had seemed impossible but now I saw first-hand that anything can happen when you least expect it. The next day at work I bought my brother every gift that seemed to fit him from the gift shop and a card to let him know that I would be devastated to lose my only brother. The card said:
To my brother, my friend
You can’t choose your family, So I guess I was just lucky To have a brother like you
We fussed and we teased, we had fights and we had fun and always in my heart I knew
That I would do anything for you.
We forged a bond that time cannot erase, And we share a secret smile That the world will never understand.
You can never know how proud I am to tell the world, “That’s my brother,”
But I’m even prouder to say, “That’s my friend.”
I love you more! JC
I thank God for giving me the insight to tell Jason how much he meant to me. He’s been my hero since 1975 and that will never stop being true. Only now he’s a hero to people that we will never even meet as well. We went through a lot together, good and bad and used each other to try to figure out what life was really all about. I think the following quote describes it best:
I sought my soul, but my soul I could not see. I sought my God, but my God eluded me. I sought my brother and I found all three.
Not a mistake that the word Jason stands for healer; the Lord is salvation.
I thank you all for loving my brother and the support many of you have offered over the past week. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to adjust to a world without our Jason.
And I thank you for a house full of people I love
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