The internet is an amazing thing. On the one hand you have all of the bad things – viruses, trolls, movie blogs, and cat videos. On the other hand you have amazing content, new friendships, cool games, and cat videos. It’s that friendship thing I want to talk about today. The man I’m in the picture with is P.G. Holyfield. I met and got to know him through podcasting and social media. He and I also live fairly close together and we attend a convention in Baltimore every year. So that “online” friendship became something more.
Cut to this Saturday. P.G. and I hadn’t talked much over the last few months. We’ve both been busy and I suck at keeping in touch. When I got the call from my friend Chooch and he told me that P.G. was sick and beyond that, that it was a fast acting cancer, to say that I was shocked doesn’t do it justice. According to the doctors he’s got very little time left. I went to his house to say goodbye. I’m glad I did. Chooch and his wife Viv, better human beings than these two are rare, have arranged their lives to take care of him in the time he has left. To see the love and care they are taking with our friend is a thing of magnificent beauty. Viv has her own health problems, but she’s not letting that stop her.
I held P.G.’s hand and talked with him for a while. Death is still a fairly new thing to me, though these last few years I’ve gotten to know its face better and hate it more and more. That’s particularly the case with this family of diseases that is laying my friend low. I believe in miracles. I hold out some small hope that God will work one in this case, but neither the doctors nor my own eyes and ears want to bear that hope out. He’s dying. During this time he’s being loved and made comfortable. People are showering him with videos, visits, and audio to let him know how much of an impact he’s made on the Earth. There’s also been a Go Fund Me campaign set up to help with the costs involved and to help provide a trust fund for his children.
I know that money is tight for everyone these days. Still, people are being generous with both their time and money. As of this writing the campaign has eclipsed six thousand dollars. My hope is that this is but the first series of drops in an ocean. Cash can’t solve everything, but it can alleviate some of the wrongs that cancer has wrought on my friend’s life. If you have any extra, please share it with PG and his family. Thanks.