As a sports columnist, you're fortunate to make many acquaintances.
In the case of former WVU basketball standout Maurice Robinson, though, I consider him a friend.
And when you see a friend hurting, you hurt.
Folks, my friend, "Mo" Robinson, is hurting. His wife Rose is hurting. And their two sons, Marcell and Marlan, are hurting.
They are going through what no family should ever have to experience. Continually.
"It's always something," Robinson said. "Been through it all, man."
It's certainly not what the couple expected when they married 36 years ago. It's not what they foresaw after falling in love in high school. There was Maurice, one of the nation's most highly sought after basketball recruits, living the dream in Welch. He would go to the movie theater on the weekends and run into Rose. ("She'd stalk me," he says with a laugh.) They ended up going to Welch High together, eventually marrying and having three kids: Marcel, Marlan and Martine.
The tragedy that's dogged two of the three has been nothing short of heart-breaking.
Marlan, a former college basketball prospect too, was in a serious automobile accident. The car flipped and the catalytic converter came down on the left side of Marlan's head and shoulder. He was at UMPC in Pittsburgh undergoing surgeries daily for five months.
But that's just the beginning.
Marlan was then involved in a senseless shooting while out running an errand for a friend. Teenagers shot him in the back and hand. Police found him bleeding in a parking lot off Beechhurst Ave. in Morgantown at 9:15 p.m.
Marlan lost his spleen. His small intestines were a mess. From April 2010 until November the family was back at the hospital, this time at WVU.
"He's doing good now," Rose said. "He's working [at University Health Associates]. He'll never have the full use of his right hand, but he's maintaining."
Stunningly, though, there's even more tragedy now.
These days the Robinsons are watching their oldest, Marcel, fight for his life.
"He was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia when he was six months old, but it's a progressive [disease]," Rose said. "It attacks the large organs, gall bladder, heart, eyes and liver. There's no cure for sickle cell."
So lately the family has been going to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland.
First, Marcel, now 39, had a bone marrow transplant. Rose was the donor. Another was scheduled for May 20, this time with Maurice scheduled as the donor. It didn't happen.
What has happened is kidney failure.
What have happened are problems with Marcel's immune system.
There was a biopsy. There was emergency surgery because Marcel was bleeding into his stomach.
There was a bone marrow aspiration - that discovered Marcel had myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, a group of disorders in which marrow fails to produce enough healthy blood cells. Rose calls it "pre-leukemia."
"This MDS is kicking his butt," said Rose. "It's progressing so quickly. They're trying to keep this at bay as long as they can. They've come up with two different plans of chemotherapy _ but he has to get well enough to accept it. He's so weak and has lost so much weight... And then we found out he has pneumonia. He's having trouble breathing. He's on oxygen now."
Again, heart-breaking.
"Up until the other day, Marcel never complained," Rose said. "He just never did. He was frustrated, but walked into [NIH] on his own accord. He was weak, but walked in on his own accord. Then, the other day, he was so weak he could barely sit up in bed. He's frustrated and down a little bit, but he's been having visitors. He's trying to bounce back because he's feeling a little better."
One can't help but also be concerned for "Mo" and Rose in addition to their sons.
"We're both about to lose our minds," said the latter. "It's a struggle."
"It's draining," Maurice said. "It takes so much out of you every day. It consumes you. You can't think straight. It's difficult to work. It's just hard. It's hard, man. You can't imagine it and I wouldn't wish anybody to go through this. Then you go to [NIH] and see so many cases like this. It's bad. That's the only way I can describe it."
And here's Marcel's situation now in sum:
"We're trying to just get him to the point where he can receive his chemotherapy," Rose said. "They explained there's no cure, but it would help give him another year or two of life. If nothing else happens."
If nothing else happens. I've been a writer for a very long time, but in this instance I can't find words to describe the Robinsons' torturous journey. All I can do is offer ways to help. Folks can go to https://www.youcaring.com/marcel-robinson-564105 to donate to Marcel or contact Maurice at jrob33115@gmail.com. (Did you know his first name is really Joseph?)
The one comfort is knowing how highly WVU fans regard Maurice, a school athletic hall of famer, a former teammate of Bob Huggins and an all-around good man. He works hard as a CVS manager in Morgantown. He has many friends. He, Marcel and the entire family have many supporters.
Oh yes - and they have one more thing.
"We have our faith," Maurice said. "We keep our faith. It's what keeps us going. We've said a lot of prayers.
"Say a prayer for us," he asked. "It'll help."
Consider it sent, old friend. Consider it sent.