Tag: family

Celebrating Ben

I went to Wichita this past weekend to celebrate the life of my brother Ben, who passed away last month. It was a tough, sad weekend for me and my family. But it was also a really good time to reflect on Ben’s life, listen and share stories about him (many of which I had never heard before), and spend time with friends and family.

A large photo of Ben Dillon, surrounded by flowers
One of Ben’s partner’s favorite photos
A table full of memorabilia at Ben Dillon’s celebration of life
Memorabilia and photos from Ben’s life
A sticker for Ben Dillon’s celebration of life containing icons of many of Ben’s favorite things
A sticker designed for Ben’s celebration of life
A wall of stickers at Central Standard brewing, with Ben Dillon’s celebration of life sticker in the middle
One of Ben’s stickers in the wild, on the sticker wall at Central Standard Brewing in Wichita

The celebration of life felt almost like hitting the reset button on my grief. The preparation leading up to the event was full of stress and anxiety, which I think had been serving as a distraction, but once the event began, all the emotions came flooding back. My brain is still trying to convince me that Ben can’t really be gone, but after this weekend, I know one thing for certain: Ben was loved by everyone who really knew him. ❤️

You can read Ben’s obituary on the Downing & Lahey website. A recording of the celebration of life can be viewed on YouTube.

One of Ben’s AmeriCorps friends created a GoFundMe to help raise money for family expenses. Ben would also have appreciated donations to the ACLU, Doctors Without Borders, and Habitat for Humanity.

Ben

My brother, Ben, passed away last week after a short battle with colon cancer, just 8 days after his diagnosis. Perhaps this was mercifully short for him, avoiding prolonged, painful treatment with, most likely, the same outcome, but it has left the rest of us in shock, without having much of a chance to say goodbye.

My brother Ben (left) and I on his 33rd birthday

Ben was kind, patient, loving, creative, and smart. Listening to his coworkers and friends talk about him last week, I could tell that his character was apparent to everyone he met. And he made friends everywhere he went — attending school at school at the University of Missouri, studying abroad in Ireland, working with AmeriCorps on the east coast, working in Kansas City, and eventually settling in San Francisco.

Ben and I loved many of the same things — good movies, Star Wars, video games, and especially hockey. I turned him into a Pittsburgh Penguins fan long ago. I loved sending links back and forth with the latest Penguins news and discussing wins and losses. He was even with me to watch the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2016. I don’t know if I will ever be able to watch a hockey game again without missing him.

I’m still having trouble believing any of this is real. We are all going to miss Ben terribly, and things will never be the same without him.

I love you, brother. ❤️

Ironically (or cruelly), March is colorectal cancer awareness month. Ben was 37 when he passed away. My friend Amanda was 37 when she was diagnosed, passing away a year later. I was 37 when developed symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis, getting diagnosed at 38. The recommended age for a colonoscopy is now 45, but maybe 35 is not too early. If you are having symptoms, go to the doctor, do the thing, don’t wait.

Update 2025-03-16:

The UC Berkeley Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies department published a nice article about my brother. We had a celebration of life for Ben last week on Friday near Berkeley, and his coworkers were so kind to me and my family.

Weeknotes 06.07–06.12

Notes from my week.

Continue reading Weeknotes 06.07–06.12