Terrell Starks laughed and reminisced with his family Sunday as he munched on his dad's famous nut pancakes. But eventually, the simple acts of eating, talking and breathing exhausted him, and he laid his head on a pillow on his mother's lap.
Terrell, his parents and his brother Cortez gathered at General Butler State Resort Park in Carrollton, Ky. for what they consider their last trip as a foursome. They rented a cottage on the Kentucky River, where Terrell's dad Carl could fish. And while Terrell mostly stayed inside, he had a perfect view of the river, the woods and the cloudless, deep blue sky.
The family didn't dwell on the future; they just spent time together talking, laughing, watching movies and playing dominoes. But Terrell's mother Valicia couldn't ignore the non-verbal cues that her son was in pain, such as the way he brought his knees up to his chest while waking up. Valicia has also noticed how a certain pain medication isn't working so well lately at relaxing him and helping him breathe more comfortably.
But Terrell was doing his best to stay awake and engaged despite the pain.
"He wanted to do this so bad," Valicia told me. "He said, 'This is it. This is the last trip.' ...He is really pushing himself. "
As Terrell lay on the couch looking out at the river, there was a sense peace in his eyes. "It's good," he said. "We found a really great place."
"Couldn't have worked out better," Carl added.
A little later, Cortez helped Terrell get off the couch and led him back into his bed to sleep.
(Photo by Sam Upshaw, Jr.)
Laura Ungar has been the Courier-Journal's medical writer since 2004. Major projects have examined Kentucky's poor health, black lung disease, cervical cancer in India and the health insurance crisis among America's middle class. You can follow her series on 
Sam Upshaw, 46, of Louisville, has been a photographer with The Courier-Journal for 22 years. In addition to covering the community on a daily basis, he has visually documented Muhammad Ali, Kentucky's poor health, the University of Louisville's win at the Orange Bowl in Miami and Hurricane Ivan in Florida. Spending time with Terrell, he is inspired by the young man's strength and wisdom, which helps put life's little inconveniences in perspective.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
* Our online blogs currently are hosted and operated by a third party, namely, Blogger.com. You are now leaving the courier-journal.com Web site and will be linked to Blogger.com's registration page. The Blogger.com site and its associated services are not controlled by courier-journal.com and different terms of use and privacy policy will apply to your use of the Blogger.com site and services.By proceeding and/or registering with Blogger.com you agree and understand that courier-journal.com is not responsible for the Blogger.com site you are about to access or for any service you may use while on the Blogger.com site.
<< Home