The story of Rita
My Dad, Johnny Cain, affectionately known as “Big Boss” was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease on September 1, 2016. December 8th, three months later he was gone. Too soon and too young (age 67). The year prior we noticed small mental breakdowns, but just chalked it up to getting older. But it only got worse. Vision impairment, not eating, hallucinations, and difficulty walking just to name a few. Various doctors and various test revealed nothing. Until finally the family fought to get a spinal tap, then we felt the relief of having the diagnosis and the terrible pain of knowing “Big Boss” would eventually die. CJD has no treatment or cure, the end result is death. Once diagnosed, the specialist say the average remaining time is 3 months. Which was very true in my Dad’s case. Thankfully, he was not aware of what would eventually take place. As his health declined mentally and physically, we did all we could to be uplifting, loving and supportive. Family and friends visited quite often, we took plenty of pictures, watched football games and ate pecans together one last time. My mother loss her mate of 44 years, us children loss the Dad we loved for different reasons and the grandkids loss the one grandparent that let them get away with anything! Our lives will never be the same, but to keep from going insane, we remember his joking spirit. So sometimes to keep from crying, I often think of some silly joke he would tell. And I look forward to seeing him again by means of God’s resurrection promise in the Bible.