Goodbye Pete

This morning my uncle Pete died after battling pancreatic and liver cancer. There’s not much I can write that doesn’t sound cliched, but he was a great man… actually he was the kind of man this sort of thing shouldn’t happen to. Unfortunately cancer doesn’t care how nice a person you are, or how many good things you do for the community, or how you’ve created three lovely children, or contributed to a happy and joyous extended family. Pancreatic cancer is particularly cruel and leaves us with barely enough time to say goodbye.

Goodbye Pete, I had fun getting to know you. You were an excellent uncle. You supported me at times when others wouldn’t and I’ll always remember sharing cheeky jokes and ciggies, especially when you came back to Brisbane. As the third most elderly grandchild, I will make sure to keep an extra eye out for my cousins even though they’re awesome and probably won’t need it, but they will always be in my heart. When I think about your love for Sue, I want to cry. It seems so cruel that you should meet each other and put your lives together (creating Jack in the process) only to be denied the smug joy of growing old together, when you’re a couple who would grow old together so well.

Pancreatic cancer is desperately underfunded, if only because patients rarely survive more than five years and prognosis is generally grim. Avner’s Fund is trying to reach $1 million in order to carry out clinical trials research into pancreatic cancer. If you can donate, it would be greatly appreciated by my family and many others.