In Memory

You may recall from my fundraising letter that my dad's youngest brother (Ronnie Wilson) died of Leukemia at the age of 16 and was buried on his 17th birthday. A letter came in the mail today from one of my mom's best friends, Desda Grider, who was also good friends with Ronnie. She shared with me the following:

Debra,
This remembrance is written in memory of a dear friend who died as a result of Leukemia. His name was Ronnie Wilson, a good looking 16 year old young man with big brown eyes and a beautiful smile.

Ronnie was in my class at Russell County High School. We were jolly juniors and looking forward to our senior year and being seniors. We rode the same school bus. That was some of my best memories of my teenage years. We lived out in the country so we were on the school bus for over an hour. Ronnie would always run to get on the bus early so he could save me a seat. We were all laughing and singing and enjoying life. He had a great personality and had overcome many childhood misfortunes. His parents had died when he was very young and he had to live with older relatives.

One day he told me, "I am really sick but no one believes me", but when I looked into his sad brown eyes and realized how pale he was, I knew he was sick. The nose bleeds became more frequent and he lost a lot of weight. He was taken to Somerset (KY) hospital where he was diagnosed with Leukemia.

Ronnie had 2 older brothers, Gene and Lowell, who lived in Cincinnati. They had left Russell County as young boys to have a better life and to make a living. But they never forgot about their younger brother. Everyone admired those brothers because they came home and got Ronnie and took him back to Cincinnati and took care of him until he lost his battle with Leukemia. Who would not like to have them for brothers???

The last time I saw Ronnie he hugged me and told me how much he appreciated me just being his friend and thanked me for always being nice to him. He was a great young man and I will never forget him.

So, Debra, I am thankful that you are helping to find a cure and better treatment for Leukemia. And you know what....Ronnie may be looking down from heaven and saying "that pretty girl running is my niece". SO YOU GO GIRL...RUN...RUN...RUN. - Desda

This one's for you Uncle Ronnie. Save me a seat - I'll see you up there one day and tell you all about this! BTW - your brother turned out to be an awesome dad and I couldn't be more blessed.