Jon, I’m going to miss you so much. You were such a great friend. I’m glad you no longer have to suffer. I know we will never forget you Jon; you’ve touched so many of us in ways that is too difficult to explain with words on paper. I can’t begin to explain to the world all of the amazing things you did for me and everyone else you got in contact with.
I’ve known Jon since 2012, but it feels like it’s been so much longer. We used to speak with each other every night for hours about just about anything. And back then, you have no idea how much that meant to me. I used to suffer from quite the gambling addiction, so whenever I talked to other hosts at DD, the conversations always turned to them trying to get me to bet on them just so they could make another buck. That NEVER happened with Jon. In fact, he did the opposite. Through the years, Jon worked very close with me to make sure that I could conquer my addiction. He didn’t care that it meant less money for him if I gambled less; he cared that I was okay. As can be seen by all of the others already discussing it, Jon putting others before himself wasn’t a one time thing. Throughout all of his procedures, he endured an untold amount of pain so bravely, yet he still would always check with me to make sure I was okay, that I was having a good day, that I was doing well in school, that my parents were proud of me, that my dog was okay; anything really as long as I had brought it up as a trouble in a previous conversation at least once. He always remembered; he always cared.
This past spring, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. As one can imagine, I was devastated when I found out. I cried and cried and cried. When Jon messaged me, just by chance, he could tell something was wrong. I didn’t want to tell Jon about it since I knew it would make him sad too, but eventually, it came out. I’m so glad that I did. Jon assured me that everything was going to be okay. He explained what the diagnosis meant. He explained that it was caught early enough. He taught me how I could be a supportive family member. And he was concerned. Initially, my mother was in denial about her diagnosis, and Jon knew that meant trouble. He checked in daily to find out updates and to explain to me how my family could help my mother accept the gravity of her diagnosis. It worked. When it came time for my mother’s procedures, Jon needed live updates. Even after it, Jon continued to check in the find out about how the recovery process was going all the way until his transplant. That’s right, you can’t forget that during the entire process, Jon himself was about to go through a procedure. But no, Jon wasn’t freaking out and asking me to be there for him. The entire time, he was making sure he could be there for me. How I wish I could go back in time and talk to him about his problems…But I know nothing would change even if I could, because Jon wouldn’t let me. That’s just the kind of person he was.
I could go on and on writing about Jon, but like I already said, it’s impossible to explain all of the ways Jon helped those around him in just words on paper. So, I want to end this on a funny story I have about Jon. Jon was very close to a camp that helped Jewish kids that had to deal with cancer, and he talked about it with me many times. One day, he talked with me about the rabbi at the camp, and then he sent me a video of the rabbi in action. It was a music video with the rabbi and others dancing, and for some reason I fell in love with it. Everyone in the video was so happy and the music was so great. Jon loved that I was into it, so he kept on asking me questions about it. I told truthfully that I had always been fascinated by Jewish culture and I loved the sense of community that I’ve observed among the Jewish students at my high school and college. I didn’t realize how great of a mistake I had made. For weeks after, Jon kept on offering to help me convert to Judaism. He knew rabbis in my town, and he kept on offering to get me in contact with them. He promised to help me through the entire process. Since I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, I couldn’t directly tell him that I wasn’t interested in converting and that I’ve always been happy as a Sikh! And so, every time we talked, I’d have to think of lousy reasons for why I wasn’t ready to go through with it. For some time, I was really worried that I’d need to convert eventually, or at least find a way to fake it. I was terrified of how I was going to explain it to my parents! Thankfully, eventually I worked up the courage to tell Jon that even though I loved Jewish culture, I wanted to remain a Sikh. He didn’t take it too badly, but he then he turned his attention to pestering me to volunteer at the camp for a summer.
Jon, I miss you, and I always will. I’m keeping the promise I made you years ago; I’ll be going to your funeral tomorrow in Buffalo. When the promise was made, I honestly didn’t think I really would. But now, it’s not even a question in my mind. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and everyone else Jon. You were truly one of a kind.
