hoping for a miracle

i only have three uncles and all of them are great. i have good memories of doing stuff with them during my childhood, but one uncle was a little extra special! bob is my mom's oldest brother but he is a big kid - always has been and always will be! my family moved all around the country when i was growing up (military brats) but we would come visit at least every summer. when we would visit uncle bob, he would always take us (my brother and me) to do fun kid stuff. the funny thing was, i don't think he did it just to be nice - he actually enjoyed himself too. he would take us to eat at fun restaurants and he took us to see "howard the duck" and "ghostbusters" and other classic movies! looking back on it as an adult now, it sounds like it would be torture for him but if he didn't like it, he never let on! he taught me how to dive in his pool - and not just once but every year! somehow, every summer i would come back and couldn't remember how to do it and he would patiently teach me all over again like it was the first time. (by the way, i need another lesson, i can't dive anymore)! he would turn up the music loud in his car so we could "jam" and at home he would crank up the music and we would dance. our favorite dance to watch him do was when he would fall on the floor and do "the worm" and "the dead bug"!! his son wasn't born until i was a teenager but even when he had his own son, he still gave us lots of attention and wanted to do fun things with us while we were there. unfortunately, now he is in a very hard battle with anaplastic thyroid cancer. this type of cancer has a 10% survival rate and he now has a tumor in his bone in his leg and one in his lung. the tumor in his lung has doubled in size even though he has been on chemo and an experimental drug. so this week he had to be admitted to the hospital again for a transfusion. through all of this, he still remains positive and upbeat. i've seen him 3 or 4 times since his battle with cancer began and he is always in a good mood and still cracking jokes. he says he feels great! i'm not delusional, but i do remain hopeful. miracles DO happen so why couldn't my uncle beating cancer be another one?!