When things count.

When Jed was Six years old he had been getting treated for leukemia for two years. Jeds mother and grandmother and father (me) all had jobs at Harley Davidson in York Pa. They give tours to people everyday. Jed decided he wanted to see where we all worked. At that time we were very proud to work at Harley Davidson. We loved the motorcycles and so did Jed. The policy at harley is that you need to be twelve years old to take the tour of the factory. Kristin called and explained to them that Jed had cancer and that we didn't really know what the outcome of his illness would be and would they let him take the tour so he could see what his parents and grandmother did for a living. The company said there was no way. They said that it was to big of a liability. Even so hundreds of people went through everyday without incident. Kristin called or emailed Willy Davidson and explained the situation to him on a phone message. The lady in charge of tours and security got really pissed off that Kristin would go over her head. There was just know way that Jed could do this. It was just way to dangerous. A motorcycle might fall on him or run him over or something. I always thought his leukemia was probably more dangerous than a factory tour. Anyway, two weeks after all the power play drama, Jed did get to go on the tour and see where we worked. Jeds grandfather (Hop) took him to the tour and told one of the tour guides that Jed had Leukemia and would like to go on the tour but he wasn't old enough. The tour guide just smiled and said enjoy the tour. Jed saw us work and all the people we worked with. They all stopped and said hi to Jed. Jed was thrilled. He didn't get hurt, the Company didn't get sued. All because a tour guide had more sense than his boss. People get so hung up in their position of power that they loose focus on what counts. Another great example of someone who probably had a lot more to loose than Harley Davidson was the people at Dover speedway. For my fiftieth birthday Kristin bought me ten laps of driving a race car at Dover. It was awesome. I hauled ass. While I was driving around the track Kristin and Jed talked to one of the track foreman's . Jed told him he had leukemia. Well before you knew it they had Jed strapped in a race car. They even found a booster seat for him to sit on so he could see out the windshield. They also found a helmet that was a little big but worked. The driver said he would just drive on the tarmac and go slow. We told him Jed likes to go fast. The next thing you saw was this car that Jed was in, going on the track, the monster mile , at about 140 miles a hour. The guy driving said on the headphones " you should see the smile on this kids face" It was so awesome. Jed was so happy. The guys at the track said 'I think we broke about every rule today". You had to be at least 16 just to ride as a passenger in these cars. Jed loved to tell the story how they broke all the rules for him. The point of all this rambling is that sometimes rules need to be broken. It seems that people with love and compassion have a lot more sense than people that are always just thinking of the bottom line or saving their ass. Factory tour or Hauling ass in a race car. One was ,there is just no way possible we can help this kid, and the other was lets show him we care and have a little fun. Love your children.

Big hearted people

We all know that there are the Mr. Sewers in this world. People who just don't care about anyone or anything except themselves. On the flip side, because of Jeds illness, we have met so many wonderful, gracious, loving and caring people. One of them was the man we called to fix a leak on an addition we had put on our house. For some reason the person who put the addition on, forgot to do something when he put the flashing on. He got old and ill and wasn't able to fix it, so we called a man that Kristins father knew from eating at a restaurant (Lions Pride). This man didn't really know us. He came and looked at the roof and told us what it needed. Being that the problem was three stories up it was something I couldn't do and would be pretty expensive. As we talked to the man we told him about Jed. This person asked if he could talk to Jed. We said sure. Jed was in his room and not feeling to good. The man then asked if he could pray with Jed and for Jed. Again we said sure, why not. We would take any good energy to help Jed. The man left and we said thank you for coming out and thank you for caring about Jed. About three days later this truck pulled up and two men knocked on the door. They said they were there to see if they could fix the roof. They were able to fix it enough to stop the leaking when it rained which was huge. The last thing we needed was for the work we had done to be ruined by water leaking in. I asked what I owed them and they said nothing and that their boss sent them out and he pays them. They were there about five hours. Later on when Jed was in the hospital this same man dropped $500.00 into a can that Lions Pride had set up for Jed during Christmas. I know this mans name but he wanted to remain anonymous. I can never thank this man enough. Not because he gave us money and time, but because he cared enough about Jed and Kristin to help make their life a little less worrisome. Thank you. Now Lions Pride is another story that I will write about next time.

KROB rocking for Jed
















Kristin, Savannah, Lizzie,Jen and Brit






snowed in

The Sewers

When Jed was first diagnosed with leukemia at the age of four, we lived on N. main st. Red Lion, Pa. We were leasing a house with an option to buy. It was a house that was attached to another house. We were leasing the house from a man named Billitt. The house was a little beat up and needed some work. To move in it cost about $3000, with a portion of that going to the down payment if we decided to buy it. When we moved in ,the house next door was vacant. The house was only about $68,000. Like I said , the house needed some work. We had the floors stripped and stained. We fixed the attic and made it into another bedroom and also rewired a lot of the house. All together we put a little over $10,000 in to it. Not including the rent. The lease was for two years. I think the rent was about $550.00 a month. We never missed a payment and the owners wife said we were the best tenants they ever had. Then the house next door got sold to a family of four with two dogs. They had the same name as one of the supreme court judges. Jed called them the Sewers . Jed was sick and in bed a lot. The chemo made him very tired. This Leukemia thing was all new to us and we were scared to death. The reason I am telling this story is to tell about all of the different types of people we met because of Jeds illness. Like I said Jed was very tired and slept a lot during the day and night. Well as soon as the next door neighbors would leave to go to work, their dogs would start to bark. They would not stop barking until the owners got home. I figured the Sewers didn't know the dogs were barking because they were at work. I went next door and introduced my self and told them about Jed and told them their dogs barked all day. They said they didn't know that and that they would take care of the barking. Long story short, the dogs kept barking all day long and made it impossible for Jed to sleep. After telling the Sewers many times about their dogs, I had to call the police and make a report and complaint about the dogs. Well that pissed them off (the Sewers). From that moment on our life became hell living next to them. This house that we were going to buy had walls like paper. You could hear everything that was said. or moved, dropped. The Sewers made sure that they were as loud and obnoxious as possible. Every other word out of their mouth was the F word. Every morning you would hear Mrs. Sewer yell down to her husband from their bathroom. She would yell " D--e bring me a cigarette I'm on the shi--er and need to smoke" She has a very raspy voice. Like a man who smoked and drank to much. If it wasn't for Jeds illness it would have been very funny. Actually it was funny. Jed used to always mock her and say "D--e bring me a cigarette" trying to sound like her. Jed was so funny like that. These people smoked like chimneys . The house was built so cheap that you could smell the smoke in our house. I couldn't take it anymore and went over to their house and asked if they could not be so loud. I again explained to them about Jed and how he couldn't sleep with all their yelling and swearing. Jed was with me when I went over there. I thought maybe if they saw him they would understand. Instead Mr. Sewer said, now this is a quote, " I don't give a f;;k if he has cancer, I don't care if everyone on this street has cancer and dies, this is my house and I will do whatever I want" Unbelievable. As time went by everyone that lived by the Sewers sold their house and moved including us. I called Billitt, the person we were going to buy the house from , and told him that we would not be buying the house because of the Sewers. I told him that it was bad for Jed. I explained the whole situation to him. I asked him if he could refund $2,000 dollars because of all the work we put in the house. Of course he said no. He was pissed off because we were not going to buy the house. He said" what am I supposed to do now with it"? Then he said he had another house that is for sale on zimmerman road in Red Lion. It was a ranch style house that was getting remolded. It was $93,000. When we went there and looked at it we thought this could be alright. As we were talking in the basement I got a wiff of something foul. I told him that it smells like dead rats. He said " oh yea we had a mouse problem but we fumigated. Great, nothing like dead mice in your walls. We were desperate and told him that we would take it. We made an appointment to sign on Wed after work. After we thought about it we said there is no way that we can move Jed into a house that has had mouse crap and whatever else. When we told Billett that we didn't want that house he really got pissed. He then started telling people that we were bad tenets and didn't pay the rent on time. Wow, is wife said we were the best they ever had. If Billett would have gave us some money back he would have probably got it back ten fold. At that time just about everyone in our family was looking to either buy or sell a house. He most likely would have gotten most of the listings. Its like you save $2000 and loose tens of thousands. Thats great business. The guys like 67 years old. He should be retired instead of trying to sell crappy houses. Kristin did find a house around the corner from our old house. We drive by our old house and the roof of the Sewers house has a blue tarp of it, the porch railing rotted away and the chimney is ready to fall. Oh well, Karma is a bitch. I also heard everyone in the house has MERSA. I only wish them the best. I have lots of stories of the Sewers that I will write about at different times. This is just to write about all of the different people that I met because of Jed being Ill . Have a good day and hug your children.

This weekend was THON. I won't try to explain it. You can go to bigjedsworld@blogspot.com for that. It was very emotional. It was the first THON without Jed. Savannah danced this year. To see her come running in the BJC was awesome. Kristin and I both cried. We were and are so proud of Savannah. Everyday she amazes me. I love her so much. I want to thank Gamma Phi and Acacia for all the love and support that they give my family. Jed loved you guys so much. Whenever he knew that you people were coming to can, visit or call, he would get very excited. Jed was fortunate in that he was able to see his friends graduate from collage and get new and more supporters. He loved all of you. Ted, Brent,Riley,LV, Krob,Dan,Lizzie,Momiss, Ryan, Christie and so many more that I just can't write right now, mainly because my spelling sucks and my memory also sucks. Starting tomorrow I am going to start writing about how Jeds leukemia has affected me and about all of the different types of people I have met. Good and bad. I really don't expect anyone to read this but if you do I hope it will be some what entertaining . Have a good day.

A lot has changed since I took my motorcycle trip. My beautiful, loving, son and best friend lost his battle with leukemia on Jan. 3, 2010. It has been devastating. It seems like a nightmare. I miss him so much, everyday,every minute, every second. He brought so much light and life to our house. He was the most courageous and brave person I knew. No one, especially a boy so young and full of life, should have to go through what he did. He taught me a lot, about how to love the people who love you and how to laugh about stupid things that really don't mean much a all. I hope that Kristin and Savannah and I can go through life without feeling such despair. Some people say time will help but I can't see it. I know in my heart that Jed is alright and he touched so many people in his short life. I know his beautiful spirit and soul are in a better plane. I know that he doesn't hurt anymore and does not have to be scared. With all that said, I still need to feel and see him. I'm selfish in that way. Anyone who wants to read about Jed can at bigjedsworld@blogspot.com. I am going to start writing more about Jed and my life and whats going on, for whoever wants to read it. It helps me. bye for now