Jordan Z

When I was in 6th grade, three years ago, there was a girl in my class named Jessie. Her older brother Jordan was a junior. He had had health problems all his life. There was something wrong with his lungs, and as a result, his heart had to work harder, over stressing it. That year in 6th grade, Jordan got a heart and lung transplant. My small class of 12 prayed for him just about every school day. His transplant went great and the organs weren’t really rejected. I hadn’t really thought about Jordan lately, and I haven’t talked to Jessie in a while, so I had no idea how Jordan was doing. Recently, though, I found out his body is rejecting the organs, 3 years after the surgery. The doctors told him that only a miracle can save him, and he has anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. As I said, my class prayed for Jordan almost every school day of 6th grade. When I found out that Jordan’s heart and lungs were being rejected, I asked God, "Why?" Well, I didn’t just ask, I shouted at Him. I couldn’t understand why this was happening. Hadn’t our prayers worked? And my class wasn’t the only people praying for Jordan. Did our prayers have no effect? Then I realized 3 years. Jordan had 3 years of being healthy. Before his surgery, he couldn’t even walk upstairs at school without turning blue. Afterwards, he could run and jump and just be normal. And he graduated from high school. They didn’t even expect him to live to be old enough to graduate when he was younger, let alone be healthy enough to do schoolwork. I remember being at his graduation. It was my school’s first. His mom said something along the lines of "Jordan can be proud to say he graduated fifth in his class." I should mention that there were only five people in the graduating class of 2001.


I wrote that on February 6, 2003, when I was in 9th grade. That was about one and a half years ago. When I look back on it now, it seems unfinished. When I wrote it, I expected to hear any day that Jordan had died. But he didn’t. Instead I heard he got better. He didn’t regain perfect health, but better than he was. And then I didn’t hear much. Every so often, I would hear someone say, "Oh Jordan’s not doing very well." But, like I said, I didn’t hear very much. Then today I saw on my mom’s e-mail that Jordan’s funeral is Wednesday, October 13, 2004. Jordan died on Sunday, October 10, 2004. It was expected, yet unexpected. I’ve known that Jordan would die someday. I just wasn’t expecting it now. I wasn’t expecting it today.

It wasn’t fair that Jordan was so sick that he needed a transplant. It wasn’t fair that the transplant didn’t work as well as it was supposed to. It isn’t fair that he died. But life is not fair. However...God is fair. He knows why He did what He did.

My life will go on. Jordan was not my best friend. Jordan was not my brother. I don’t think I’ve even seen Jordan since his graduation in 2001. Jordan’s death will not affect me if I don’t want it to. But I want it to. I want to live my life for God, not for myself. I want to remember that this day could be my last, that there might not be a tomorrow. I want to remember that our God is an awesome God. I want to remember that He knows all the plans He has for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans for a hope and a future. I want to remember that He will be with me always, even to the end of the age.

Jordan Z’s obituary is in the paper. Here are excerpts from it:
"Jordan Z, 21 passed from this life into the waiting arms of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on Sunday, October 10, 2004.
He graduated from (my school) in May, 2001 and attended (a local community college). Jordan was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension at age 3 and underwent a heart-double lung transplant in January, 2000 at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. He enjoyed history, mythology, collecting comic books, animals, weaponry, music, playing his guitar and making people laugh.
His life, story and testimony touched countless lives. Anyone who knew him was inspired by his courage, faith and quiet acceptance with which he dealt with his condition. He was greatly loved by all who knew him and will be deeply missed."

I didn’t know Jordan very well at all. I prayed for him. I saw him at school a few times. That’s it. I don’t even remember ever speaking to him. But as must be obvious by now, he touched my life. I’m sad that Jordan died. But I don’t think Jordan is sad. I think he is much happier right now than he has ever been in his entire life. He’s in "the waiting arms of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." And that’s the best place to be. And now, I think, it’s finally finished.

Me
October 12, 2004

PS Today I had to take the PSAT at the school where Jordan's sister Jessie now attends. I didn't get a chance to talk with her, (I haven't seen or talked to Jessie since 6th or 7th grade) but one of my friends did. And you know what she said? My friend told me that Jessie is so happy for her brother, because he's not in pain any more and he is with Jesus. Wow.

Speech!

The following is a speech I wrote for school. The topic was: "Wait till you hear what happened to me?" I decided to write about my family. That family wanted me to post this, so here it is.
Keep in mind that there a couple of inside jokes between me and my friends and my teacher (there are only 8 other people in my class at school---all my friends). Also, the countdown time for Lakeside is for when I gave this speech, about two or three weeks ago. Yeah, I know, it's the DeLong thing. Must correct everything. Can't help it. One other bragging note...I got a 100% on this speech. :)

The DeLongs

Everyone thinks that their relatives do strange and embarrassing things. Well, my family...we’re...different. Even more different than normal. I’m not talking about my family as in my parents and my sister. I’m talking about all of them: my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The entire DeLong clan, my mom’s side of the family. We see each other every summer at Lakeside, Ohio, where we rent a house and live all together. All 18 of us. Give or take a few. And let me make this point right now...I love them all, even though they drive me crazy.

First, there’s the name thing. My mom has a brother and a sister, Michael and Amy. My mom married a Michael and my aunt married a Michael. So, I, along with my sister and all of my cousins, have a dad named Michael and two uncles named Michael. And my Aunt Amy named her daughter Lisa after my mom. And just because we weren’t confused enough, one of my cousins is dating a girl named Sarah. Another is dating a girl named Emily. You’d think out of all the girls in the world, they could find some with names that weren’t already in the family.

Then, there’s the bizarre obsession with grammar, words, spelling, and countdowns. Ever wondered where I got that from? Yes, it’s genetic...it’s the DeLong in me! Every year, my grandfather Papa gets a word of the day calendar. Many of our conversations have included discussions of the spellings and definitions of odd words. For Christmas a few years ago, my Uncle Mike (who’s different from Uncle Michael, who’s married to Aunt Amy) was overjoyed to receive a dictionary of uncommon words. After all, he said, who needs to know the definition of hat or chair? And countdowns? Every year, we countdown how many days until Lakeside...days, hours, minutes, and seconds. Right now, there’s about 287 days and 12 hours, 30 minutes, 30 seconds, 29, 28, 27...until Lakeside.

Another odd thing that occurs, is every night at Lakeside, some of the adults have......the Crossword Competition. They get a copy of the crossword from USA Today, sit down in various parts of the house, wait for Uncle Mike to say go, and race to see who finishes first. The only people who really play anymore besides my Uncle Mike, is Uncle Michael and Papa. Uncle Mike is very competitive and almost always wins....that’s probably why there are only 3 contestants now.

There’s also the love of random facts. Every year, if my Uncle Mike doesn’t get an almanac for Christmas, he goes and buys one himself. While we didn’t play random trivia this summer, last year we had nightly rounds, with such important questions as, What is the population of Iceland? or Which movie won the Academy Award in 1988? By the way, the population is 293,966 and Rainman won the Academy Award in 88. We were a little concerned last Christmas at the news that police should be on the look out for almanac-bearers, because quote, the popular reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning, end quote. Maybe that’s why there weren’t any rousing games of random trivia this year.

I really realized how different my family was last summer at Lakeside. Every morning, the adults, my sister, and I gather on the porch to read the papers. Yes, papers. We typically get 2 or 3 every morning. The second morning at Lakeside last summer, I walked into the porch to hear Papa asking questions and guessing names of famous people. I asked, "What’s going on? What are we doing?" My Uncle Michael said, "It’s Guess Who’s Dead?" I just didn’t really know what to say. Papa eventually correctly guessed the first contestant on Guess Who’s Dead: Katharine Hepburn. That morning, as each family member came to the porch, we played Guess Who’s Dead? That week, we had 3 contestants on Guess Who’s Dead: Katharine Hepburn, Buddy Ebsen (from the Beverly Hillbillies), and Buddy Hackett. Other contestants have included Bob Hope and Bill Bright. Those 2 episodes of Guess Who’s Dead were played on our family website. This summer when I went on my mission trip to Mexico, we left on June 5. As we neared San Antonio where we stopped for the night, we found out on the radio that Ronald Reagan had died. My Uncle Michael and Aunt Amy came to see us because we were staying at their church. What were the first words out of my aunt’s mouth? Not hello, not how was your trip, but, Guess Who’s Dead? This summer, we were ready for a brand new season of Guess Who’s Dead? Our vacation the summer before, the premiere of Guess Who’s Dead, had been a magnet for celebrity deaths. However, this summer, our only contestant, Marlon Brando, made his appearance before we got to Lakeside. Guess Who’s Dead even has a slogan (that I came up with): Guess Who’s Dead...Everyone’s dying to get on!

Yes, we DeLongs do really strange things. I’ve tried in the past to prove that I was adopted...however, I look and act like too many members of my family for that to be true. Some of my cousins are embarrassed by some of the things we do. I got over THAT one a long time ago. Besides, if my family didn’t do the things that we do, my life would not be nearly as interesting.

The End

When in Mexico, Drive Like the Mexicans Drive

Barely 9 kilometros over the border on Mexico 2 (a highway), and we'd already almost crashed twice. The speed limit was 60 kph (about 40 mph), and every car on that highway was going 80. 80 miles per hour, not kilometros per hour. Oy. That was a fun ride. And that was just the first day in Mexico. It was most definitely an adventure.


There are speed bumps EVERYWHERE in Mexico. In Rio Bravo, they're enormous...and painful, especially if one is sitting in the back of the van. Also, one of our drivers loved to go slow at first, then gun it to get over the bump. We were not very happy with him. After a while we just started yelling "SPEED BUMP" every time we saw one. Then there's the speed bumps on the highway. Yes, on the highway. Crazy place, Mexico. Their traffic lights are strange, too. Not only are many of them on the highway, but they also flash green when it's about to turn yellow. It just means go faster.


One frightening example of Mexican driving was actually done by one of our own. On the way back from our worksite one day, we were traveling down the highway when the assistant driver in the front seat said, "We missed our turn!" So, the driver immediately turned to what she thought was the exit. It was actually the way on to the other side of the highway. We were driving on the WRONG SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY! Miraculously, we got onto the right side without getting into a head-on collision.


If you're not in the town or on the highway in Mexico, the road is dirt. Or rather, mud...especially after 3 straight nights of rain. And we had to drive about 30 minutes to our worksite each morning. By the end of the week, the outsides and insides of the truck and vans were covered with mud. It was pretty nasty...but by the end of the week, we no longer cared, because we were covered with dirt anyway. (I never felt clean the whole week. I think there's something in the water.) We did get the vans cleaned at the end of the week at a Mexican car wash...all 3 vehicles, inside and out, for about $20. Unfortunately, it took about 3 hours. We also ended up having to cram 24 people into a 15 passenger van (because the other one was still being cleaned). Now that was comfortable. There were about 5 or 6 people in every row, and some people had to sit on others. It was just a tad overcrowded.


We made it out of Mexico alive and well. Although we came close, none of our vehicles ever crashed. Miracles never cease.

I'm Back!

I'm alive. Barely, but I'm alive. It was a great trip. Thirty people went; it was an awesome group. We had absolutely no people problems; however, we were not so lucky in other areas. We had some weather problems (rain, not heat), construction problems, and lots of illness problems. Lots of illness problems. Most of them from me, but that's another story. Even with our many problems, because we had no people issues, we can all look back and say it was a great trip. As I was telling 2 ladies at church today (one had gone, one had not), if we had had people problems, the trip would have been absolutely horrible. The lady who hadn't gone said, "Oh, such wisdom for someone so young!" I told her that it wasn't really wisdom, but experience. On my first trip to Rio Bravo, Mexico, we had no construction problems, no illness problems, and the only weather problem we had was heat, which we had expected. However, because we had people problems, the trip, at least the end of it, was like being in a living nightmare.

It was a great trip. We had amazing opportunities to touch a lot of peoples' lives. We were incredibly touched as well.
I've been working on a list of stories to write.
Here are just a few:
When in Mexico, Drive Like the Mexicans Drive
Ailments & Illnesses (a very, very long story)
Quiet House
Rio Bravo
Soriana
Travel
Construction
Music
Our Families
Boys Are Obnoxious
Newspapers
Shooting the Breeze
People
They won't be necessarily in that order, or be limited to just those stories. I'll think of more, I'm sure.

I'm just glad to be back alive!

Goodbye!

I'm leaving the country. I'm going with my church on a missions trip to Mexico and we're leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. Unfortunately for all you readers, that means I won't be blogging for quite some time. Last time I was there (two years ago), I couldn't even find a newspaper...in English or in Spanish. I was deprived of all current events for nearly a week. But I got over it.

After two years, I'm finally going back to Mexico. As I was telling a fellow team member, who knew going to bed late and waking up really early on uncomfortable mattresses in unairconditioned dorms to build houses in 90+ degree heat all day long (and then do it all over again) would be so much fun. I'm so excited!!

I'll tell you all of my stories when I return, don't worry!

ADIOS!!

Groups

When my youth pastor started at my church about two years ago, I really liked him (don't worry, I still like him now). We had the same last name, he wanted to update our youth praise band, of which I was and am a member (even though I haven't played in two months, but that's another story), and he wanted our youth group to grow in size and in God. However, he also wanted us to do small groups on Wednesday nights. I was not happy. I liked having everyone together and I didn't want to be separated from my friends. It got a little better when we got to choose in which small group we wanted to be. I really liked my leaders (even though I decided to switch halfway through the school year..yet another story). I learned a lot and I decided I really liked this small group thing. Then summer arrived. Now everyone in high school met together on Wednesday nights. Sometimes even the entire youth group. I could not wait for us to go back to small groups. We had a really great small group last year. And, by the end of the year, a really small one. Now we're back to big groups. The teachers this summer are wonderful...however, the people...yeah. It's going to be an interesting summer. I like all of the other highschoolers at my church. Some are just very immature. The leader had to get on to people a couple of times for being disruptive and finally said what I've been waiting for a leader to say for years: "If you're going to act like that, don't come. If you don't want to be here, don't come." A lot of people come because they think they have to. I hope that they still come, but because they want to.

I still can't wait for small groups.

Excuses, Excuses

Ok, I have a good excuse for not blogging. Sort of. I have a great variety of excuses...only one of them is good, though. There was a really big thunderstorm in my neck of the woods this afternoon. I watched two sections of our fence fall over in the 70+ mph winds. In between those two sections was one still standing. Unfortunately, in the short space of time that I walked away from the window...a tree fell on top of that one still standing. A really, really big tree. It also destroyed our swing set (which was too small for us and was only $30 at a garage sale a couple of months ago). For all of you Lakeside fans, do you remember the storm at the old house a few years ago when the enormous swing sets at the park were destroyed, and the power was out all night, and we had to make a Wally World run to get flashlights and lanterns? This was like that storm. And our swingset looks similar to the ones at Lakeside. Only smaller. And our power wasn't out all night. It came on just after we left for church (even though the electricity experts on the radio said it could take 2 to 3 days). So, no need to fear, we're all alive. My parents and a friend partially chopped up the fallen tree and repaired the fence. It doesn't look very pretty, but there aren't gaping holes anymore.
All in all, it was a very entertaining afternoon.