goodtimetoreview

I am Chris's big sister. Obviously you all knew him as sodamntired. Seeing the post about him on Matthew Good's blog meant the absolute world to us. Chris was obviously a huge fan. And he would be over the moon to know that someone he held in such high regard took a moment to think of him. Obviously this site was a big part of his world. Buy the sounds of it he was a regular around here. (It was the first thing that popped up on his computer when you opened it up actually.) I know he spent a lot of time here and many of you knew him, but he probably didn't talk too much about the fact that he had MS and that his last few months he was living in what was essentially a nursing home. About a year ago he was MIA from these boards for a few months. He was still living at home at that time, but he had a home care worker that came to check on him, make sure he was taking his meds and take him places a few times a day. When Chris didn't answer the phone one afternoon, his home care worker rushed over to check on him and found that he was unconscious and seizing on the floor. He was then rushed to the ICU where he was unconscious for 2 days. When he finally came back around, and was able to talk, we realized that most of his short term memory was gone. He had a very, very progressive form of MS, and it stole his memories and eventually his life. When he got out of the ICU, he spent a few months in the hospital, and then was transferred to a nursing home where he was the youngest of 400 residents. Most of the residents had been there for 30+ years. They all enjoyed him because he was young, funny and liked to visit and tell stories. His mobility was relatively good, but he did fall down often so if he went anywhere he had to be in a wheelchair, or have someone help him with a walker. So he found 'normalcy' in the online world. Where no one knew that he was the way he was. But don't get me wrong, the kid NEVER complained about what he was going through. He went through chemo, and other extremely painful procedures to try and help him and never once said that it hurt, or he was scared. His whole life he was faced with medical challenges. His nurses would poke and prod him and afterwards he would politely say 'thank you'. I don't know how the kid did it, when I get poked and prodded at the hospital, I have a few other words that I'd rather say. But that is just who he was, he was a polite and had a kind heart .His death was sudden to everyone. He seemed to be doing so well. I want to thank you all for being his friends. I know he thought of all of you as his friends. Even if you weren't always so kind he would have thought of you as a friend. I remember him once telling us that someone online had told him that "he should just kill himself" which made me absolutely lose it being the protective older sister that I am. It's so easy to talk to people like that, from behind the safety of a screen name on the computer especially when you have no clue what that person on the other side of the screen is going through. So I know it can be easy to say ugly and hurtful words to someone, but no one likes a bully. Sorry, rant over, I'm just being that protective older sister still. Say something or do something nice for someone, once a day if you can. It will make you feel so much better as a person. So thank you all for giving my little brother something to look forward to every day, I know he spent most of his time in front of the computer, because well, there wasn't much else that he could do those last few months of his life. The kid loved exploring the internet. I wish I could tell you how many youtube videos he posted on my facebook page, i mean seriously...it was littered with them! And I am sorry for all the spelling and grammatical errors in this post, it was written as I was sobbing hysterically Like the really ugly weepy crying, that I hate doing, and look awful doing. So in closing... go for a walk today, have a cup of coffee and tell someone you love them. Those were all his favorite things. Live every day to the fullest and treat it like a gift, because it really is.