From: Lubosh <Lubosh.Hanuska@anu.edu.au>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
Subject: Quo vadis ? #13
Date: 22 Nov 1992 06:55:28 GMT
Organization: Australian National University
Distribution: world
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X-XXDate: Sun, 22 Nov 92 01:55:39 GMT

My only brother

There was one very important thing that happened in our family while I
was in the military. My brother Peter was five years younger than me, and
he was in his second year at the University of Forestry. I had a week of
holidays in the end of February, and we did a lot of skiing together, we
did downhill, and cross-country across the forests... It was a great
time, but a week was not too long, and I had to go back to the base. The
1987/88 skiing season was very good. My brother went to the mountains to
ski with a bunch of friends for the last time in that season on 1 May...
While they were skiing he suddenly felt very weak, and sick, his
temperature raised to almost 40 C. It didn't seem to be all that bad, and
he went to see a doctor on the next day. Surprisingly enough the doctor
sent him to a hospital - just for a few days as he was told. Nobody was
really worried, my brother was always very healthy, doing a lot of
sports. At that time I didn't even know anything about what was going on,
and they didn't want me to worry, I had enough of other problems anyway.
So my mum came to the hospital, and wanted to see the doctor. I never met
that man, I only spoke to him on a phone some time later, but it
certainly was one of the most cynical doctors, and regardless of his
professional experience and knowledge I wouldn't let him work in a
medical practice (remember I was a medical practitioner at that time :-).
He called her into his office, and without any explanation told her my
brother had cancer. Of course she was shocked. She was only told it is
not "that bad", and she doesn't need to worry, but they have to start
immediately with all procedures. After the first chemotherapy that took a
week Peter was allowed to be taken home. I wasn't there, but everybody
told me about the horror when they saw him first. In that year he was a
regional body building champion, got into the national final in
decathlon, and now there he was with almost half of his weight lost,  his
hair falling out (it was a big thing for a young man who just turned 19),
and hardly able to move without help... This was in June, and Peter was
due to the second chemotherapy procedure in two weeks. At that time he
missed on exams, and had to shift them to September, when the next school
year was to start. After a week at home he was able to walk and do all
the basic things... He even went to see his friends at the uni, and they
prayed for him at a prayer meeting. It was an extremely hard time for
him, but Lord did not forget him. God gave him a lot of power to gain a
strong confidence in His help, and to make a big decision. When he was
expected to turn up for the next procedure, he went with mum to see the
very same doctor who was so incredibly intact with her before. They went
in together, and Peter said that he has decided not to stay in the
hospital anymore, and he wanted to go home. He said "I know that if God
wants me to live, I will live." Unfortunately this doctor was a real
atheist - he didn't even believe they are serious, and was still
suspecting that my mother was responsible for all that (it's quite usual
that these people suppose the only way to become a Christian is to be
talked into it by parents), so he tried to talk to her. He told her my
brother wouldn't live more than two months... and Peter told him he will
come and see him in one year. However, I think nobody was ever trying to
tell to Peter not to take the therapy, it was his own decision, taken in
such a great faith ... and he didn't take any medicine, or any cure ever
after. After this happened I returned from my shortened military service,
and took some time to get Peter back into training - we started to work
out in the gym, had walks in the forests, jogged, swimmed, cycled, and
did everything we could. At the same time he was studying hard to catch
up with exams to be able to start the next year at the uni. And he did it
! He managed it all ! Everybody was just amazed. After a few months he
had better results in the gym than me, he had better times at our jogging
track - of course he was always better in all sports ever before, but now
all his form was back ! He went to some blood tests once a months, and
the results were very close to normal. And what's more - he even found
himself a new girlfriend, and everything was even better than those few
months ago... Winter came again, we did a lot of skiing, played ice
hockey, and had big plans... Of course there were other people around -
my father for example was one of those formal Catholics who never
approved of Peter's decision to stop the cure. When troubles came, he
wouldn't rely on God; and when good times came, he wouldn't thank to God,
because for him there was nothing men wouldn't achieve anyway... And
maybe it was all happening so that God's power would be made better
understandable to him... but it probably doesn't work that way... 
Anyway, we had a wondeful year, nothing was different from before, our
faith was even stronger than before... In summer 1989 we planned to take
a bicycle ride to Medjugorje - it was over 800 km from our home town, and
because in the end I couldn't go, Peter took one of his friends along.
They didn't even have any supporting vehicle, so it really was not an
easy ride... but they did the whole distance in five days ! (At least
they had a bus booked for the way back.) After they returned Peter went
to see the doctor in the hospital where he was a year ago. The doctors
couldn't believe he is still alive, and maybe it did help them to realize
that it's not on them to decide about our lives... It was 1989, autumn
came in that year, but not the winter - the Velvet Revolution came
instead to Czecho-Slovakia, and we were all so excited, we had a lot of
things to do. I was with the prayer group at the University of Forestry
where Peter was studying, we had such a great enthusiastic time, it
really was the biggest experience of my life, our whole world was
changing in front of us, and we were part of that change! It was what
many people were waiting for all their lives. It was not an easy time,
especially the first few weeks, when most of the ordinary people couldn't
understand what's going on, the Communist propaganda was still trying to
turn things back by claiming that "the artists and students are not able
to govern the country" - but it all happened, the parliament was
reconstructed, new government appointed with the Communist Party in
minority, Vaclav Havel was elected president,etc. The future was finally
bright and sensible. We all met during Christmas in my parents house,
Peter invited his girlfriend, and they announced they want to get married
in the next summer... However, shortly after the New Year Peter started
to feel some pain in his stomach, he went for a blood test - the results
were very bad; he had a CT scan, and a small tumor was discovered under
his stomach. It was a shocking thing for all of us, but this time the
doctors were encouraging, saying there is not an immediate danger in it,
but a chemotherapy was again highly recommended. Surprisingly enough this
time Peter didn't object to it, but he wanted to have some time before
he'd go to the hospital, and he wanted to go to Lourdes to pray for his
health. We wanted to persuade him not to go in the winter time, to wait
for summer, he wanted to get married, he could take a trip as the
honeymoon after the wedding... but he insisted he wants to go. I was
going to Denmark at the same time, so he joined me for that, spent some
time with my sister in Copenhagen, and after a few days took the flight
to France. Until the last days he didn't have any troubles, we didn't see
any reason to worry about his travelling. But he never came back. On his
way back he suddenly had a lot of problems, when he stayed in Paris for a
few days, one of our friends there helped him to organize a travel by
train... but he already had a lot of pain, and only wished to get at
least out of France, because he didn't speak a word in French. He got off
the train in Saabrucken, and was taken into a hospital... As we were told
later, there was nothing medicine could have done at that time for him...
and he passed away peacefully after only five days. The notes in his
diary only showed us how great his faith really was even in the time of
pain, he knew he is going to die, and in spite of all that he wanted to
go, he wanted to to the Father... he loved God so much,... and God loved
him so much that he took him to His Kingdom so early... He was only
twenty years of age, but as my mother said at the funeral - "Who had such
a beautiful life as he had? He was able to know all the wonderful things
in life, he had the girl he loved and wanted to marry, he fought for the
victory of the Velvet Revolution in 1989, and the change he longed for
was here... He already knew all the nice things in life, and Lord decided
to preserve his beloved from the troubles of this life. Maybe in the last
days he suffered, but his reward will be the life in the Kingdom of
Heaven." 
Oh, Father, thank you for my brother ! I know you took him from the
world, because you loved him so much, and I know he is now with you in
eternal happiness and glory ! Please, let us understand these things
better than we can now, let us not be selfish to keep those we love, make
us confident that they are with You now, and help us to deserve to join
them when You'll allow us to pass away from this world. We ask you,
because we are so weak, many times so unable to accept Your will, in the
name of Jesus, Your Son, and joining our prayers with all Your faithful,
Virgin Mary, all the saints, and all those who already are with You. AMEN.
I can't write more this time. Please, pray for all those we miss so much,
and we have to wait a long time to meet them again...
In the love of Jesus Our Lord,
Lubosh
+!
"Death is not bad, it's just a piece of life so hard..."  J.Wolker
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