Cory Szot in heaven

We got "that phone call" this past Sunday morning from Dan's Grandma Pat, who told us the surprising news that Dan's younger cousin Cory had died in his sleep. His dad, Tim, went in early that morning to wake him, to get ready for the Special Olympics that Cory was going to compete in, but Cory's 15 year fight against Muscular Dystrophy had ended.

"Surprising" because Cory's family had been at our condo for Easter, he helped hide the Easter eggs around the condos, as he was very fast in his wheel chair tooling up & down the wide hallways. His body was shutting down rapidly. Cory was always quiet, and reserved, thoughtful, very accepting of MD as his "lot in life". BUT, ask him a question about most sports [yes he was a Cubs fan too] and he could rattle off stats, that you did not even know existed.

Cory in wheelchair-lower left

He was visibly shaken up the first few times, that he visited his cousin Dan, at the hospital and rehabilitation last year. He knew all too well, the difficulties of being handicapped, and it broke his heart to see his big, tall, strong cousin, Dan, in this crippled condition. There is an unspoken language of understanding and empathy, between handicapped people, when meet each other.

His "Make a Wish" was to see NASCAR Tony Kannan, which he did a few years ago, [Jen's Blog has a great photo and sweet tribute to her cousin], and I remember thinking, "that seems premature, he's not even close to dying". Yet, look how his life has passed so quickly. Or as James 4:14 says "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

Keep Cory's family, Tim & Diane, Nicole, Natalie & Josh in your thoughts and prayer these next few weeks, as the reality of their loss settles in. We will all miss him.

Any notes for Tim & Diane can be left on the this local newspapers web site, or we can forward emails to the family, if you send it to checkinondan@gmail.com