03/24/2021
This dear, kind, funny, light of a man passed away yesterday. Many of us in the veteran storytelling community are heartbroken. 
I’m thankful Joe Stepp Jr. volunteered to be one of my pandemic portraits last year. His words are attached to his portraits post.
💗
United in Isolation, 2020 | No. 22
“Isolation…I’ve experienced 3 levels over the last 2 years.
I felt compelled to temporarily leave my life of 26 years in Columbus, OH to go back to my hometown of Shelby, an hour and a half away. My parents were both ailing and needed desperate help. Having no siblings, no children or ever married I was basically on my own to become a caregiver. Leaving my friends who were all family behind, I became shopper, cook, cleaner and nurse to both of my parents…my mother with COPD and my dad undergoing two major surgeries. My dad came through very well. My mother didn’t. She passed away here at home with me holding her hand. While here, I couldn’t go out much or socialize…only be here alone with my laptop and phone as my friends.
Planning on moving back to Columbus, I was then diagnosed with inoperable, stage 3 lung cancer a couple days after Christmas. My dad’s health was also starting to downturn, so thus began my second level of isolation. No one to really turn to other than some immediate family and close friends, I never felt so alone because I needed to be brave a strong front for my dad. I’m currently undergoing aggressive chemotherapy with hopes that I can arrest this vicious fiend growing in my chest. I brought some of this level of isolation on myself by keeping quiet about my condition until just recently. Since then, some very special people have stepped up to help my dad and I out if needed. I sold my house in Columbus and now permanently moved to Shelby for my dad's sake as well as my own.
My third level is this dastardly yet deadly Coronavirus. My dad and I are both quarantined because of his age (76) and my current lung condition. I can’t even have visitors over. Just a friendly face on the computer screen or phone, or a reassuring voice or message from close friends. Yet this is not something that had ever entered my mind…this lost feeling of isolation. At least spring is almost here, and I can wander out into our rural backyard where the trees are blooming, the deer are eating, and the rabbits play. I only wait patiently on the day to break the chains of this terrible thing…isolation…” —Joe
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Joe - thanks you for your honesty, your hope, your perseverance, and your kind heart. You are a truly good man and I am honored to know you.
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Edit// Joe passed away on March 23rd 2021.
I hope you’re resting peacefully my friend. I’m heartbroken.