Life outside of Hockey is hard sometimes.

[rjfryman 1,120]

Julius Freeman prides himself on his ability to work hard no matter what the world throws at him. He has been a player who trains to the best of his ability week in and week out. He started his career later than some of his draft mates but that did not stop him when he set his mind to the task to be one of the best in his entire draft. There were few people who gave him the time of day when he first started but some people laughed and some people were unsure about his player. His own teammates thought he was crazy and that he would burn out. But he didn't, he worked hard and did everything to the best of his ability. He helped lead his team with a 100 point season in his VHLM season. He helped lead his team to the finals of the VHLM cup and just came up short. He did everything in his power to be a good teammate and a good leader. When it was draft time more people knew him and some people thought that he would be a good player and be worthy of a high pick. Things got interesting when the wolves moved up in the draft to select him 2nd overall. He was instantly compared to everyone who would be drafted after him and a lot of pundits thought that he was not worthy of such a high pick and would burn out eventually. 

 

This is far from what happened though. He was instantly put on the first line and had a great rookie season helping his team with whatever they needed. They worked hard and they made it to the playoffs where they would go far even to the finals. They ended up losing in the finals but that doesn't stop the accomplishment of reaching the finals in his first two seasons. This would be what he thought would be the essence of his career where he would do great things but always end up coming short. The next season Julius didn't just worry about improving himself but took on more of a role in the team and ended up helping others with their training in order to be the best team they could be. This helped out and caused them to make it to the finals and win it all. The first time in his career Julius felt like a winner.

 

The next season looked like a great opportunity to continue the legacy of winning and change the perceived nature to the pundits and again they went to the playoffs but that didn't change the outcome when they had an early-round defeat due to some goaltending issues. Julius felt like he let his teammates down and wanted to come back stronger than ever but some of the things he was so good at he felt like he was lacking now. The more responsibility he took the harder it was to maintain moral in his own heart.

 

Sorry everyone things are about to get real.

 

This is where things off the ice too were about to be the hardest things he has had to deal with. First, his wife whom Julius relays on so much for moral support and just general life came to him crying one day worrying about her mother. Things were looking bleak before she could even get the words out because so many times She could tell him anything but this time it was hard. Julius's mother in law went to the doctor and they found a lump. At first, the doctor told them not to worry that they would run tests but that things should be good. A week goes by and the doctor keeps on pushing back the day that they would give the results because they just wanted to make sure that the results were correct. Turns out that is never a good thing. The initial report from the doctor is that it is stage 2 cancer. Julius for the first time in his hockey career had a hard time thinking about hockey. Life was just hard to deal with and what was his escape turning into a job and something that was hard to deal with when he felt horrible any time he was not helping his wife or his mother-in-law. 

 

After a short amount of time trying to deal with the news of his mother-in-law, Julius got more hard new that hit even closer to home. His older brother by a few years was in the hospital. Julius loves his brother and went very quickly when he heard the news. Apparently his brother had a blood clot. Which Julius thought was very strange since he is in his early 30's. They shouldn't have these kinds of issues this early. The doctor told them not to worry but they went and did a quick surgery to put a stent in his veins to clear the blood clot. This worked and what was the issue turned out to be a quick fix or so they thought. A week later when trying to make sure everything was good to go and nothing was popping back they had to do another surgery. They ended up removing part of his ribs and some muscles around the area of the blood clot. The doctor said everything should be better but they wanted to keep him under observation to make sure.

 

During this time Julius spent every moment outside of hockey with his brother in the hospital and it helped. The issue came the second day of his observation where his brother had a hard time breathing and the doctors came in took some x-rays and saw that there was a large amount of blood in his chest cavity. So much so that it was causing organs to move. They moved him to the ICU and put a chest tube in him and he quickly released 2 liters of blood. Julius was at hockey practice when he heard the news and his coach told him to go be with his family. He went was there for his brother and stayed as long as he could until his wife called him with another update about her mother. Turns out that the doctor did another biopsy in his mother-in-law's lymph nodes and there were cancer cells there as well. Once he knew his brother was doing better he went home to be with his wife.

Julius Freeman went back and forth being with his brother, his wife, and his team. All the while trying to do his best in each but always being lost in his thoughts trying to do his best. Each day he felt like he was drifting and just getting by. Each day felt like an endless slog that he had to get through for those who were depending on him.

 

It's been a few days since his brother had those issues and he should hopefully be leaving the hospital tomorrow.

 

1,169 words

 

Note from the write: Sorry everyone for not getting more done with some of the draft lists. Life has been tough these last few weeks but I will get them going again soon. 

[rjfryman 1,120]

2nd claim

[Banackock 7,989]

I’m still sad Beaviss Stole you from me @rjfryman and left me with shitty @Spade18