Bald.

Jack has cancer. Lymphoma. Mantle cell lymphoma. It just sounds yuck the way it kind of sticks on the roof of your mouth when you say it. There is something about writing it that makes it worse. It makes it real, which is worse, I guess. I haven't written anything on the blog because I wanted to respect his privacy. And, I didn't want it to be real. But, it is.

I remember the first time I met Jack. I was so nervous. Brandon & I had started dating a few months earlier, which means I had known for a few months that he was my soulmate. This means that I knew how close he was to his dad, so I had to really step it up. I remember the entire evening very clearly. They came in town for a football game (they still lived in NC at the time) & Brandon sent me to open the door of his apartment to greet them. I was excited, said hi & welcomed them in. I, luckily, had met his mom a few weeks before because I am not sure I would have been able to handle the pressure of both parents at once. Anyway, I was trying to be cute & charming and the first thing he said to me was, "Any girl who can jump out of an airplane is ok in my book!" This was a reference to the fact that for his birthday I had taken Brandon skydiving. (Side note: I was terrified of this entire experience, but, wow, how I loved this guy. I knew that I wanted to make sure that NO future girl would ever be able to top the first present I got him, so I surprised him & we jumped out of a plane about a month after we met. I think it worked because that was 9 years ago.) Anyway, I laughed nervously & then I heard it. I remember it very clearly: The Jack Glover laugh. I really cannot describe this in words, because the effect is what gets you. It's a great booming thing, the laugh. Even when I am prepared for it I am usually taken aback a bit. The first time I heard it, I knew I was hooked. I had to make it happen again. So, the rest of the evening was spent with me trying to make him think I was smart, funny, responsible & perfect for his son, while simultaneously attempting to make him laugh

As the next years progressed to where we are today I have heard the laugh a great number of times. It still is just as contagious as it was the first go round. While I was attempting to recreate it, a funny thing happened. We became really close. In fact, our running joke is that he is my Soul Dad. We discovered that we have a lot in common & our personalities are very similar. I remember many Saturday mornings going to visit Brandon around 7am when I woke up & Jack and I would just hang out & talk because nobody else was up yet. It was during these talks & the time I spent with him over the past years that I began to learn about the qualities that make up Jack Glover. He is intensely determined, but what makes this even more powerful is his ability to reason & combine logic with any argument/debate. His breadth of knowledge from everything dealing with the stock market to UT football is impressive,without a doubt. He is a hard worker, unselfish, charismatic & goofy. He loves a good laugh, shrimp cocktail, a lot of ice in his tea, his steak cooked perfectly, dogs & complementing people. I have never seen someone so organized with files. He is a loving & caring husband and his marriage created the best example for Brandon. As a dad, he looks out for his sons & always puts their needs first. He flew me to NC to visit Brandon our first Christmas we were dating, he helped us buy our house, prefers ice cream with chocolate syrup & nuts above all other desserts & he lets me eat all of his Kettle cooked chips. BUT, what makes Jack Glover truly my Soul Dad is the fact that he knows how to show love. Just like Brandon, he is sensitive, caring & not afraid to show emotions. I know for a fact that he is reading this right now & probably tearing up a bit. (Hi, Jack!). He loves intensely & he shows that love intensely. Anyone who has ever met me in his presence has heard this introduction:

"This is my son, Brandon, & my daughter, Melissa."

Upon the confused looks as to why his son & daughter are holding hands, this is usually the next phrase:

"Technically, she is my daughter in law, but we leave out the 'in law' part. See, I've always wanted a daughter & I was so lucky when we got her as an adult. We missed the teenage years & got a perfect, grown daughter!"

Seriously. I absolutely realize how lucky I am.

Back to the story at hand, the last few months have been a tad rough for the Glover family. The initial shock, the worry, the tears, the frustration. But, if I had to choose Jack's motto for life, it would be "Play hard or go home." This applies to every part of his life & it is already applying to this, as well. Jack is fighting hard, keeping a positive attitude & giving his all in this fight. A lot of this is because Toni is definitely someone you want on your side when you are fighting cancer. She has remained purposeful, committed & unwavering.

A result of the aggressive chemo is that he has lost his hair. Everyone knew this was going to happen, and, I can honestly say I was prepared for it. Actually, I was totally ok with it from the beginning. Remember, Pops is totally bald, so for me, a bald dad is really the only way to go. Bald=perfection. The Horse from "The Velveteen Rabbit" sums it up much better than I can.

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

So, now we are just waiting for Jack to receive his trophy for winning this battle. We all know it's going to happen. Anyone who has ever met him knows that, without a doubt, we are going to be buying cancer a shirt that says, "Jack Glover kicked my ass." Love you, JPa!!