My brother Rob

During the past year I have often spoken of my brother Rob’s courageous battle against cancer.  I’ve said that this awful ordeal for my brother, his wife, and their two children would have been even worse if they didn’t have health insurance.  Every American deserves quality, affordable healthcare coverage.

Please let me share some memories of my brother, who passed away this Sunday morning, and let me urge you to schedule a simple, cancer-detection test that could save your life.

As a child, Rob had a great nickname, “Joy Boy.” He was happy, upbeat and adventuresome – qualities he kept all his life.

There’s a wonderful line by Jonathan Swift:  “May you live every day of your life.” Rob did just that. He helped to preserve a beautiful, unspoiled island in Peconic Bay from development. He transformed run-down houses into beautiful vacation get-aways. He fulfilled a dream called “American Passages” – piloting a boat through inland waterways from the Atlantic to the Pacific. (To cross the Rockies, Rob put the boat on a trailer, and he got on a bike.)

During his five-year battle with Stage 4 colon cancer, Rob married a great woman, Carol, and became father to Carol’s wonderful daughter, Julia. Then they had a baby, Otis -- another “Joy Boy.” Their love uplifted him as he endured the operations and chemotherapy that kept him alive.

Rob published articles about his illness to encourage people to get a colonoscopy that could lead to early, lifesaving treatment. He had the satisfaction of hearing from some people who got tested and received early treatment as a result.

I hope my brother’s story can continue to save people’s health and their lives. Here is a link to information about colon-cancer screening from the American Cancer Society. I implore you to read it and to act on it. In the spirit of Mother’s Day, please share it with all the people you love.

                                  Thank you,

                                  Doug