To all of Joe's friends and family (and campers),

     This blog has been Joe's vehicle that helped him travel through his fight against this disease. Joe was such a kind and brave man and although he was suffering, he always thought of others, and could even find the humor in a terrible situation, pretty much until his last hour.  This was evident in his entries in this blog. Although I feel a bit like an intruder, I have decided to close out Joe's blog with some final words.  First and foremost, thank you to everyone who followed along with Joe on his path.  Your comments were always such a comfort to Joe and it helped him immensely.  He felt so much love and support from his friends and family.

    Kate, Adrienne, Joey, Elizabeth and I hope you will participate in the events on October 29th to celebrate Joe’s life.  There will be a mass a 10:00 am at Incarnation Church, 2911 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota FL 34239.  Later that day, from 1:00 until 4:00, there will be a celebration of Joes life at a place he loved so much, WSLR/Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota FL 34236.  Joe loved not only hosting his radio show, but he loved hearing all the wonderful live music at Fogartyville.  To all Joe's musical friends, please consider sharing a song or two at the service in Joe's honor.  Please call me at 941-320-1351 or email elaine.terzi@gmail.com  if you would like to be a part of this celebration.  In the following entry, Joe’s son captures his father's spirit.

•••

On the night of August 16th, while surrounded by family and loved ones, my dad peacefully passed. He was in the midst of battling a second round of cancer and a string of other respiratory diseases that were making it progressively harder for him to breathe. Everything moved so much faster than any of us wanted or expected it to. Even when you can see the writing on the wall, you still never want to throw out hope. It's the same reason you stick around til the bottom of the 9th, even if you're on your last out down and by 10 runs. Sometimes miracles happen, so you just have to play your hardest and leave it all on the field. That's what my dad did.

When I was in 5th grade, my dad took my to my first ever concert: R.E.M. with Radiohead opening. They played at what was then known as the Thunderdome, but has since become Tropicana Field, where we’d later watch the Rays play. We were pretty much as far back as you could get in the crowd and the bands looked like ants on the stage, but being there with my dad was pure magic. He taught me about this musical Mecca in the middle of Georgia called Athens and pretty much kick started my love affair with music that made me who I am now, and probably subconsciously led me to where I am today. The other week when I was back in Atlanta I went to see the Julie Ruin, and in the preamble before one of the songs Kathleen Hanna told the crowd about how the next song they were going to play was about her abusive father, and I just completely zoned out. All I could think about was how I was not only fortunate enough to have a dad who was always present, but also one who was so compassionate, nurturing, and loving. A dad who always put others above himself and went out of his way to help others. A dad who was so brilliant that I was convinced he would not only one day make it onto Jeopardy, but would be the reigning champ. A dad who was so full of optimism and positivity that no matter how bad things seemed, would find a way to adjust the focus so you could see that “life is good”. A dad so full of humor that at the onset of his diagnosis made it a point to make every doctor he encountered laugh at least once (and he did). A dad who has influenced so many lives and left such an impression that even though it may seem like he is not here will live on forever.

On my way back up to Atlanta I stopped off in St. Pete and made an impromptu trip to Tropicana Field to catch the Rays one more time, something I had wanted to do just once more with my dad but never got a chance. In the 6th inning they played an ad for Moffitt Cancer Center in honor of cancer survivors right before Evan Longoria came to bat. I quietly asked Evan, whose career we followed from the beginning, to hit a homerun in honor of my dad. On a 2-2 count, he pulled through and launched one into the left field stands. That’s for you dad.                                

•••

                I will close Joe’s blog in his own words.  No matter what adversity he faced, this was his way of looking at life.  He closed every radio show he hosted with these positive words:

"Go forth in peace and love, remembering the way it was, savoring each and every second of the way it is, and always, always, always looking forward to the way it is going to be, cause every day truly is better than the day before"  Joe Jacco.