My Best Friend's Pap

-Trying on the voice of John Jeremiah Sullivan



When I was in elementary school, my best friend’s grandfather used to drive us home at the end of the day. He stood on the corner across the street from school with his hands in his pockets and a stern look on his face waiting for us. I have to admit he was very intimidating; he was a great grandfather and an all around nice man, but he meant business.

Even though he was in his fifties, he still exercised, drank protein shakes, and he tanned. Boy was he tan. Jordan, my best friend, had pictures of her grandfather’s bodybuilding competitions and a napkin he gave her signed by Frankie Valli. Jordan’s “Pap” looked a lot like Frankie Valli.

Then in 2001, Pap was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is incurable causing muscle weakness and eventually paralysis. It attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord deteriorating motor neurons. As a result of ALS, the brain can no longer control muscle movements causing the deterioration of the muscles in the body.

He was determined to fight the disease. He kept his job working with the Turtle Creek Mental Health/ Mental Retardation, Inc. finding handicapped individuals jobs, and he worked tirelessly with ALS foundations to help find a cure. Sadly, within two years, Pap passed away from ALS. Even though I was only 12 at the time, I couldn’t believe I had seen a man once so strong become so weak at the hands of a nasty disease. But, he fought it until the end.