Many of you are more than familiar with Trey, the fact that he has cancer and that it has been determined to be terminal, and that he has changed the lives of many through this process. There are some of you who are not nearly as knowledgeable however of who he really is, what he is like, the things he says and does. Even those of you who know many things about him do not know all that there is to know. I thought I would share a few of them here to refine the knowledge of some of you and to introduce him to the rest of you. Since I introduced myself through my post 50 Shades of Jay I will let you get to know Trey the same way. A special thanks to my lovely wife Rachel for helping with this post!
1. He loves pretzels.
2. His pretzels are highly specific. Round ones at the hospital, square ones at home, and “heart” shaped ones for parties.
3. When I push him on the swing in our basement he always wants to go “to the moon” (which means his feel hit the ceiling).
4. He loves to call people “wackadoodle”. If he wants them to play with him.
5. The nurses at Children’s argue over who has to give him his shot, none ever want to.
6. If you are attractive, he knows…and it shows.
7. If you are not, he still wants your attention.
8. He defies authority, convention, discipline and just about everything else.
9. He pushes his sister’s buttons like an elevator.
10. He is a very old soul.
11. His tolerance for pain is ridiculous.
12. His silly face is ridiculous.
13. He remembers people longer than any of the rest of us.
14. He will play you and take advantage of you, gladly, and you won’t care.
15. Lately he very often just says, “Stop talking to me.”
16. He does not like to wear pants…ever.
17. He has (since his diagnosis) had a broken femur, did not show it, did not care.
18. He had a surgery in August of 2011 that almost took his life.
19. He walked out of the hospital 16 days later.
20. One month later he had a collapsed lung, did not show it, did not care.
21. You need blood when your red count is 7, and it’s dangerously low at 5. When his was at 5 he ran up and down the hallway at the hospital waiting to get blood, he did not care.
22. When he got sick from chemo he would immediately resume eating.
23. He has no idea that he has cancer.
24. He loves going to the hospital.
25. He will say things in quiet moments that very very subtly make me think that #23 is wrong.
26. He loves to get ice cream.
27. He does not eat ice cream.
28. He screams with joy when I come home from the grocery store and thanks me for buying whatever I bought…even if it’s just ground beef.
29. He calls restaurants and stores distorted names like “Home Dome Depot”, “Popadilla’s (Popeyes)”, “Smiley Face Cookie Place.” Other places he just shouts as we drive by including “Kohl’s, McDonald’s, Toys R Us, and especially Chuck E. Cheese’s.”
30. He knows how to use his Rachel’s phone better than she does.
31. He is the worst Hide-and-Seek player, ever.
32. His volleyball stance is quite good and his hits quite accurate.
33. He chews loudly, and Rachel loves it dearly.
34. He often wants to play “blood draw” where he goes through the steps of an actual blood draw on someone’s arm, including lightly tapping the veins to make them stand out.
35. He will eat anything as long as it’s on someone else’ plate, especially Rachel’s.
36. He can make an excellent Perry the Platypus noise.
37. He loves, loves, loves to watch YouTube videos of real roller coasters and parades.
38. Boy loves himself a parade.
39. His hearing was damaged by the chemo, very low sounds elude him.
40. He has a beloved blanket named Taggy. When Trey was in the ICU and the doctors needed him to wake and move to make sure he wasn’t paralyzed (!!!), we gently rubbed Taggy on his face and he moved!
41. Taggy got sprayed with Fabreeze once. That was a mistake.
42. Trey reached through his crib at the hospital and pushed the Code Blue button. He thought it was great how all the nurses came running. We moved the crib away from the wall after that.
43. He once said as I prayed in a very low voice for God to heal him, “What’s wrong with me?”…once.
44. He saw a picture of himself in the ICU (while scrolling through my pictures on my phone) and said, “What happened to me?” I told him that he was getting really strong medicine. He looked at it for another second and just moved on without saying another word.
45. He loves to have his hair stroked as he goes to nap or sleep.
46. He will evaluate or describe his poop. It’s either a “big boy poop”, “good boy poop”, or “Fresh Beat Band” poop. There is no discernible difference between the three.
47. He loves to ride on a Merry Go Round.
48. He would much rather sit on you than with you.
49. He loves to go swimming.
50. He squirts spray butter directly into his mouth. So much so we have to keep it from him.
Feel free to add to this list via comment if you know something about our boy that I have left out. We love him dearly and cherish every moment we have with him.
Even though we have printed the majority of what we refer to as “Trey Updates” during the past year or so, your list includes many things that we did not know. As always, thank you for sharing! Trey is a living testament to the fact that his presence here is a blessing and that he has been a fully formed individual since the instant that he was conceived. He helps me to remember that God knows my name along with every hair on my head, etc. Regardless of how things turn out, all of us are better off for having known or known of him. I firmly believe that through Trey’s suffering, God has made me a better person. I pray that God will continue to bless all of you for all that you have done for our family. I especially thank you for everything that happened in my life at Saranac during the summer of ’05.