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Jimmy Boy courtesy of "The Yonkers Tribune" |
 Jimmy "Jimmy-boy"
Arena Passes Away
Surrounded by friends and family, as they have most nights, the Arena family
lost their "Jimmy-boy" as he slipped away from us at 7:25 p.m. last night. After
struggling with two brain tumors for almost two years, his small body could
take no more. Everyone expected this but had been temporarily "lifted" as he
came out of a coma and spent another week with us, awake, alert and responsive.
As I struggled to write about this, a close friend reminded me of what Jimmy's
real regacy is. It's how he touched so many people, and they in turn touch
others, and so on. The initial impact was in the Katonah area, and then the
county, and then the state and finally, he was reaching all the way to
California!
As I began thinking about this legacy, I began imagining Jimmy as a spider in a
community. He began weaving his web and it slowly began to grow, one strand at a
time. It was first only enough to encapsulate the Katonah Fire Department. Those
people immediately helped to grow Jimmy's web as their members reached out to
the Westchester County fire service. As those people responded, Jimmy's web
grew. That's when I got caught in the web. I learned of the first blood drive to
help the family, called a few people and finally spoke to Jim, his dad. I
offered this column to publicize the blood drive to help his son.
After one visit to see Jimmy and his dad in the hospital, Jim told me about
Sandee Martensen and the Pinwheel Project at the hospital. He explained what she
and her organization does for the pediatric, oncology and burn units at the
hospital and that we had to help her. I have since joined the Pinwheel Project
crusade, snared by Jimmy's web, which continued to grow. I then got more
involved with the Westchester County Burn Center in Valhalla. I have enlisted
help from my fire department's benevolent association and our family's church.
And Jimmy's web grows. As this happened to me, I'm sure it has been happening to
others.
Jimmy had a lot of activity crammed into his six short years. He became a Deputy
Fire Commissioner for Westchester County's Department of Emergency Services. He
was inducted as an honorary member of many fire departments in the county, he
visited the Orange County Chopppers crew, and more. As all of this happened, his
web kept increasing in size, slowly bringing more people into conatct with more
people who then make more contact and so on.
While the "physical Jimmy" may be gone, his impact is not and his web will
continue to grow, snaring more unsuspecting and willing victims who will
continue to weave his web, growing his legacy exponentially. God blessed us with
Jimmy-boy, may he rest in peace.
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