Pretty sure you all know by now but this is Lish. 2nd Cooley. Yep Ryan, same hospital visit. Great memory, Mike, I also vividly remember that poker game. And DLL thanks for posting too. Sorry I couldn't attend the memorial today. Miss you guys.
Thanks for posting your story about Teddy. But I need to defend your comment about ladylungs. You met Teddy after his double lung transplant so you have no idea what he went through before then, or what we all went through as his close friends right by his side.
We all met Teddy the first day of our freshman year of college - we all lived on the same floor in the East Quad dorm. We spent time together nearly evey day. We went to hockey games, studied, ate together, even played cards while he was using his therapy vest. We obviously knew he had cystic fibrosis but he kept up with all of us. We walked to the Big House to watch home football games together, he schooled us in broomball, we played touch football, soccer and frisbee to pass the time after class, and we played about a dozen IM sports together. He surprised us with team tee shirts one day, which united our little family. He was the most genuine, upbeat, kind person I'd met.
And yeah he had that "no." He knew his limits and we all respected him for that. But he seemed as healthy as the rest of us most times. And then things started to change. In our sophomore and junior years his limits quickly deteriorated along with his lungs. Eventually he couldn't play sports with us. And then he couldn't walk as far, so his "maniac extrovert" brother, the best brother Teddy could ever ask for, who took care of Teddy and would do anything for Teddy, drove him to class and to the Big House so he could watch football games with us. But it kept getting harder and harder for Teddy to breathe. He was so frail and weak. Someone we loved, our close friend, was dying before our eyes.
Then, thanks to the death of a lady, Teddy was given a new set of lungs. I remember visiting him in the hospital. We played with his heart monitor to see who had the lowest heart rate, and he thought that was funny, especially since he won. He was always so competetive. We joked and smiled constantly. Our friend was alive.
He eventually got strong enough to come back to school and started eventually playing sports with us again too. He was the same Teddy, always cheerful and ready to tackle the world. Barely 20 years old, we were faced with death, with losing a part of our silly little family. We didn't know how to deal with it so the nickname ladylungs was born, not to make fun of Teddy, but as a way to say "I love you," our affectionate way of showing how scared we were of losing one of our best friends and how thankful we were that he was healthy again but not knowing how to say it. As immature 20 year olds we were just glad to have him back. Calling him ladylungs was our way of saying dude, we love you and we thank god every day for giving you these new lungs so we can continue getting to be a part of your life.
Teddy was fortunate enough to live a few years longer than he would have without his ladylungs and we are all so thankful he had more time on this earth. And I am glad you were able to get to know Teddy as well. Everyone who was lucky enough to meet him understands this tragic loss. My thoughts go out to Teddy's parents, Teddy's fiancee, Gordon, and the rest of his family and friends, no matter how deep or how long they knew Teddy. He is truly unforgettable.
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Brian,
Thanks for posting your story about Teddy. But I need to defend your comment about ladylungs. You met Teddy after his double lung transplant so you have no idea what he went through before then, or what we all went through as his close friends right by his side.
We all met Teddy the first day of our freshman year of college - we all lived on the same floor in the East Quad dorm. We spent time together nearly evey day. We went to hockey games, studied, ate together, even played cards while he was using his therapy vest. We obviously knew he had cystic fibrosis but he kept up with all of us. We walked to the Big House to watch home football games together, he schooled us in broomball, we played touch football, soccer and frisbee to pass the time after class, and we played about a dozen IM sports together. He surprised us with team tee shirts one day, which united our little family. He was the most genuine, upbeat, kind person I'd met.
And yeah he had that "no." He knew his limits and we all respected him for that. But he seemed as healthy as the rest of us most times. And then things started to change. In our sophomore and junior years his limits quickly deteriorated along with his lungs. Eventually he couldn't play sports with us. And then he couldn't walk as far, so his "maniac extrovert" brother, the best brother Teddy could ever ask for, who took care of Teddy and would do anything for Teddy, drove him to class and to the Big House so he could watch football games with us. But it kept getting harder and harder for Teddy to breathe. He was so frail and weak. Someone we loved, our close friend, was dying before our eyes.
Then, thanks to the death of a lady, Teddy was given a new set of lungs. I remember visiting him in the hospital. We played with his heart monitor to see who had the lowest heart rate, and he thought that was funny, especially since he won. He was always so competetive. We joked and smiled constantly. Our friend was alive.
He eventually got strong enough to come back to school and started eventually playing sports with us again too. He was the same Teddy, always cheerful and ready to tackle the world. Barely 20 years old, we were faced with death, with losing a part of our silly little family. We didn't know how to deal with it so the nickname ladylungs was born, not to make fun of Teddy, but as a way to say "I love you," our affectionate way of showing how scared we were of losing one of our best friends and how thankful we were that he was healthy again but not knowing how to say it. As immature 20 year olds we were just glad to have him back. Calling him ladylungs was our way of saying dude, we love you and we thank god every day for giving you these new lungs so we can continue getting to be a part of your life.
Teddy was fortunate enough to live a few years longer than he would have without his ladylungs and we are all so thankful he had more time on this earth. And I am glad you were able to get to know Teddy as well. Everyone who was lucky enough to meet him understands this tragic loss. My thoughts go out to Teddy's parents, Teddy's fiancee, Gordon, and the rest of his family and friends, no matter how deep or how long they knew Teddy. He is truly unforgettable.