At about twenty minutes after two in the afternoon, yesterday, our family witnessed the final breath taken by David Albert Laws-Kinsey. A man in his early thirties who loved his four children, lost his battle with Leukemia. He fought this disease since being diagnosed with it late in February. His time with us was from 8/25/81 to 8/15/13.
The outpouring of emotion from the loved ones there, a numerous bunch, was one of the most difficult things to see. Known by most as Albert, he was a good soul who consistently demonstrated an unchanging concern for others and harbored a deep love for his kids. This was a young man taken from those loved ones far too early; a situation nobody could ever explain without a touch of philosophical and spiritual talk about faith. Those who cling to their faith must try to understand that God makes such decisions for reasons we're not privy to, and we are encouraged to find peace in such wisdom.
But faith and reason rarely mix well, so it is difficult to fathom how this soul was needed so badly by He who brought him forth.
Albert endured issues similar in symptoms to Asperger's Syndrome, which basically means he harbored a limited range of interests but cherished those few he had. Albert had a deep, deep love of history and how its importance affected the world. He also endured some issues relating to social interaction, but over time he learned to overcome a bunch of this; so many who have met him often saw little to suggest there were any issues at all. While they were there and he maintained a struggle to cope with and maintain these things, one thing he often exuded was an open innocence in terms of heart and love for those important to him. It was fascinating to see him recognize and confront those issues proven his cross to bear and one couldn't help but to admire his subtle wisdom in seeing the character, Forrest Gump, as a beacon of encouragement. Albert recognized how this character enjoyed so much fame because, while Forrest clearly had his challenges, he met them with courage and as much a part of him as his own hand, and therefore played the hand he held with confidence.
So, Albert tirelessly took to seeking understanding of his crazy world through a diligent study of its historical past while also bringing forth this gentle wisdom when talking with family. If there was one thing you could count on him for, it was letting you know a historical point of interest in regards to whatever might be the subject of the moment. But beyond the history bullet point, what was most interesting about this was his ability to place some old date and occurrence in similarity with the present, thereby solidifying the wisdom that if we do not learn the lessons of history, we're doomed to repeat those past mistakes.
His personal history was not excluded, and he endlessly demonstrated appreciation and love for the fact that he was able to enjoy the love and adventure of family. Because he endured his singular limitations and some of the more apparent issues coming with that (many things most people took for granted often proved daunting and nearly impossible for him), he never thought he would find love and the opportunity to look into the eyes of a child known as his own. So, one could only imagine how exhilarated he must have been when he met Michelle, his wife, and witnessed the miracle of three children coming to the world as a result of their love and relationship. Further, Michelle came to his life with a little one, who he courageously accepted as his own. It's tragic to hear how so many men who view themselves as something wonderful could never find the courage or depth of character to do this, yet Albert did so with aplomb.
With all of this seen in the world of one wondrous individual who, if you look at those dates above, was just coming into the prime of his life, one's faith is truly challenged when we could only stand there and witness his body fight this heinous cancer devouring his blood and body, and then lose that fight with one final, labored breath. This was witnessed by so many family members whose vision of this was skewed by overflowing tears, including his wife and four young children, his mother, grandmother, siblings, cousins and aunts, and other close family who just couldn't find one good reason to accept the reality without frustration and helplessness.
This is just a moment's observation of this one case regarding this heinous disease. What makes this worse is the overwhelming number of people all of us know who have endured similar tragedies. Worse yet, all of these people have witnessed cancer claim countless lives regardless of their age, place in society, need of their loved ones, and lifestyle. Sure, it doesn't require some expansive leap of faith to see an individual who made it past the average life span and come to this battle because of personal choices, but how can one explain the battles fought by young children or those who are very young and did all the right things in terms of healthy living? There are no explanations to be found, only statistics reaching profound numbers.
What must be rare are those people who have not felt the direct touch of this tragedy. But even for those who can say they've never been directly touched by this, surely they've seen it all around them, wondering when their turn is to come. Cancer is an aspect of our universe that is obviously misunderstood by just about everyone. Just take a look at the way this is battled- today's modern medicine poisons the hell out of the victim, hoping the poisons kill the cancer before the victim. While it seems more than bizarre, it does work at times and occasionally for the long run. But with that said, it's more than obvious that such attack strategies are based on a significant lack of anything better. The cancer operates on such a cellular level that is just not open to isolation; it seems so much a very part of the victim and a method of separation just isn't there.
Thus, this so becomes a test of faith. Because this operates in a way we cannot confront directly, thereby forcing all of us to recognize our limitations even during a time in history when we're numbering planets beyond our own in the thousands, it forces our kind to keep fighting this good fight to see this to becoming something talked about in history classes of the future, when a curious mind such as Albert's ponders on what those people must have gone through during those days when they just didn't see how the solution was just so simple. Perhaps there are implications we have yet to confront, such as, how do we cope with so many new arrivals to our kind and not enough of those departing? Could cancer be nature's, God's, the universe's way of letting us know there has to be a balance? If such balances are not brought to the forefront in a way beyond your scope, how could they ever be implemented?
Who knows? The question's place requires a position of understanding and faith. We must understand there are forces beyond our control and harbor the faith that such forces have their reasons. But when we witness a loved one struggle and suffer, these things are truly put to the test, particularly when all there is to perceive is the tragic insanity of it all.
