My brother Tim passed away of cardiac arrest last night. He was just two days shy of his 52nd birthday. It has been a whirlwind two weeks, as Tim was diagnosed with stomach cancer just within that time. We got more bad news day by day, but he kept a positive outlook. Only today did my sister Nancy tell me that he knew he had at most three months to live. They had discussed it last week and he did not want her to tell us before our big weekend where our daughter Emily graduated from college. That was a kindness. Today, we begin the sad duty of calling loved ones. We will do that on our drive back to Maryland from Ohio.
Tim was my longest fellow drag racing fan. He and I read the hot rod mags and built the models as kids. He could pick out the year, make, and model of a car way better than I ever could, both then and now. As an adult, he took photos and wrote stories for draglist and was our advertising manager at times. He was the track photographer for Capitol Raceway for a few years.
Tim's latest and best love was Barbershop singing. He was the lead in two quartets and a featured member of a large men's chorus in Maryland. He is so well loved in that community. One of his fellow quartet members, Bob, hasn't left his side this entire time except for a few hours a day. Many other members all streamed through his hospital room. I never saw Tim so happy as when he was performing live with his fellows.
I want to thank my sisters Nancy, Judy, and Anita for being there with Tim while I was vacationing in Colorado with my son Jason last week and celebrating my daughter Emily's college graduation this weekend. I was going to start staying with Tim this week. I'm so glad we were able to stop in and spend a few hours with him Thursday night before we headed to Ohio.
Farewell, Timbo. I love you, bro. bp