I need to inject somewhere a little about Jared's dad, Bill.
Bill lost his wife to Glioblastoma in October, 2008. So you can only imagine how he felt to receive the news that his son had now been diagnosed with the same cancer. And to add to the helplessness, he was serving a mission with his new wife, Margie, in Hawaii. When he called me from Hawaii the night we found out about Jared, I had to try to keep it together. I was absolutely devastated for him! He had received permission to come home for 10 days to be with Jared. He spent those days with him while he was still in the hospital. I think Bill had a hard time returning to Hawaii. The uncertainties of cancer made him want to stay home and care for Jared. But we really needed him to serve.
Bill and Margie had left on their mission four months prior to Jared's diagnosis. When missionaries are set apart, they receive a blessing. For some reason I paid attention to the words that were said to him, and one part in particular stood out to me. He was told that through his service, his family would see miracles. I remember thinking that miracles was such a big word. He wasn't told they would be blessed, he was told they would see miracles. So we needed him to continue to serve. And his family has seen miracles. And we feel and desperately hope that Jared is another one of them.
