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Below are notes taken from Justen Jones care page.

“Justen is 11 yrs old now. He was diagnosed with Pineoblastomas, a Brain tumor, at 5 yrs old. That was in June of 2004. Since then he has completed very high dosage Chemotherapy Treatments, Radiation, Bone Marrow Transplants with Stem Cell Rescue, and Gamma Knife Surgery.”

MONDAY, JULY 5, 2010 2:15 AM

“I am sorry to say that my son Justen Jones was laid to rest on yesterday. He passed away last Sunday on June 27th at 7:41am. He will be missed dearly!! I know that I will see him again, but until then May God rest his soul. NO MORE CANCER & NO MORE PAIN!! Mommy loves you very much Justen and I miss yoou terribly!”

The thing that pisses me off is that Justen was this kid that never acted sick. At every function and get together he would say hi as a blur of motion as he ran to play with the other kids.

I remember the first time I met Justen’s mom, Renee, in the parking lot at our cancer clinic, two and a half years ago. We talked for a while. By then she was a four year veteran of cancer. Now, I know the type and look. See, their different than the other parents who are new. They don’t freak out at the littlest thing, and are certainly more composed as they have weathered far too many storms to let the roller coaster of cancer carry their emotions away. Me, I was brand new to this road and pretty freaked out. I never forgot how composed Renee was. That is what stuck in my mind the most about her.

That is, until the worst happens and their child breathes their last breath. Then that is a different story.

The service for Justen was beautiful. A mix of southern Christian with the soul of deep south, exuding reverence and spirit. I know the description is esoteric but I know of no other way to describe it. The pastor was a young, handsome man, whose readings of biblical passages had a rhythm and a cadence that spoke to you. Next came a man who sang A Cappella and whose voice filled the room with sound and emotion. Others spoke, one by one, some breaking down. The uncle was the guy who really made me cry. He made one think of valor and humanity when he spoke so lovingly of his nephew’s personality, antics and battling cancer.

At the end, when the parents went up to the casket to say goodbye to their son, everyone cried. There is something that shoots through the heart when one sees a mother and father lovingly saying goodbye and it is a final one. Man, it was so-o-o-o rough.

This is the dreaded that all cancer patients/parents/caregivers fear. The passing of a loved one too early.

After the service we left with some friends and had lunch, which helped to break the somber mood that we were all in from the funeral.

Honestly, this was our fourth of July weekend. After we got home and put Kayla to bed, Bill and I were wasted. We watched TV for hours and pigged out on lots of junk! Finally we fell asleep as if drunk from all the sugar and rigors of the day.

Later Renee, Justen’s mother, and I emailed each other because I was asking permission to post this to my blog. Here are our emails.

Renee,

Okay, here is the proposed blog entry awaiting your approval.  Deb

Deb,

This is just fine by me…and a little humorous.  Just a couple of corrections…my fault.  Justen had just turned 5 on May 2, 2004… when he was diagnosed in June of 2004. And he had just turned 11 in May of this year before passing away in June.

Renee,

Okay I did the corrections.  Thank you honey.  You are a real example for others to learn from.  I know death is very hard but some people really play it up. Your the opposite and I LOVE that about you!

Debbie

Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 8:05 PM

Debbie,

Thank you,

I will give credit to Justen for “teaching” me all that I’ve learned from him in 11 years of his service to this world. “Priceless”…

There you have it dear readers, a piece of a mother’s heart.