Marcus

My brother Marcus passed away on Friday November 5. He had been diagnosed with stomach cancer a mere seven months ago. And although he was told that it was a serious case he had been receiving radiation and chemotherapy treatments and was doing quite well. It came as a shock to us all when we heard the news that he had passed away suddenly outside an apartment complex in Meridian while on his way to visit a friend. He left behind his wife and soul mate, my sweet sister-in-law, Colleen.

Marcus has always been fun-loving, outgoing and a friend to everyone he met. I remember Marcus' teenage years. Marcus was different from my four other studious and reserved brothers. Marcus was actually "popular" and so my friends and I really looked up to him as someone who was "cool". Most teenage brothers would probably have thought it was annoying to have their ten-year-old sister and her friends hanging around, but Marcus never acted like that. He would talk to us as we were skating out on the driveway and joke with us like we were friends and not annoying little sister-types.

As I grew into a teenager myself I found that, personality-wise, Marcus and I were very different yet I still enjoyed hanging around with him and his friends. I remember that Marcus and Colleen's very first date (or one of the first) was actually a double date with me and one of Marcus' friends. We went to a "skating to gospel music" night at a local roller skating rink.

Because we are so different, Marcus and I certainly had our share of disagreements. I remember very well one particular time when we were on a family reunion. I was probably about ten or eleven and Marcus was sixteen or seventeen and had just begun to drive. I remember that he was driving the car and I was in the passenger seat and he must have said something that made me really mad because I started smacking him as he was driving. I have no idea what it was, but you have to understand that ten-year-old girls can be very sensitive so I may have overacted and put all our lives in jeoprady, but anyway...A couple of days later we visited a theme park of some sort and I found myself sharing a car on a carnival ride with none other than Marcus. The car could be turned upside-down by turning a wheel and Marcus, never letting anyone be angry with him for long, held the car upside-down and refused to turn it right-side up again until I promised that I would forgive him. I had forgotten about that memory until just a day or so after Marcus had passed away and the memory of that lovable Marcus made me smile.

I am grateful that we were able to live close to Marcus and Colleen for a little while about three years ago while Ben was working for Albertson's and later for the State of Idaho. When Ben first started working at Albertson's he went ahead of us and Marcus and Collen let him stay in their home, as they did for so many others. Ben was remembering the other day that the first night he arrived at their home they had a basket full of goodies and things to make Ben feel more at home there. Marcus and Colleen were always so good to welcome everyone into their home and make you feel comfortable there. I had my fourth child, Brigham, while we were living in Boise. The day I went in to deliver Brigham I had been contracting all day, but talked to Ben as he left work and assured him that he needn't rush home. His commute was lengthy at the time, but I felt certain that I would be fine until he got home. A little while later, I was wishing I had told Ben to hurry home a little bit faster and I called Marcus and told him that we would have to leave for the hospital as soon as Ben got home from work. Marcus came straight over along with happy meals for all the kids and still beat Ben to our house. I was so grateful to him for being there when I needed him.

We will all miss Marcus dearly. I am sad when I think that he won't be there at family gatherings to "liven things up a bit". He was such a special person and he touched so many lives. How grateful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge that I have that I will see him again someday.

Marcus, I love you so much. I am grateful that I could call you my brother and look forward to that day when we will meet again.