They say the Mummers are a family and on Wednesday night, Jim Waldin and his loved ones watched as his brothers and sisters with the Ferko String Band pulled off a surprise performance.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen him happy. Conducting with his hands. He was excited," Jim's wife Denise Waldin said.
The 69-year-old has been a banjo player with Ferko for the past 25 years. He got his start all the way back in the late 1960s when he put on his first Mummers costume at the age of 12.
The Clementon man is living with ALS at The Subacute at Autumn Lake Healthcare in Vorhees, New Jersey, where the Mummers surprised him.
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“I was happy to see that, you know, he was getting some joy in his life, cause lately it just seems like everything is a downward spiral," his sister Kim Fario told NBC10.
Jim is the second of five children as well as a husband and father in a family that is committed to staying by his side.
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“One of the expressions around is, ‘in this family, no one fights alone.’ And that’s with The Waldins, but it’s a Ferko family," his brother David Waldin said.
And, on Wednesday, many of Jim's Ferko family left work early or put other commitments on hold to show their love to one of their own as he battles the fight of his life.
"Jim and I go back all the way until I was five-years-old. He gave me my first-ever banjo, my first-ever instrument I wanted to learn. So, he’s always been a very special person to me," Scott Ratzke of the Ferko String Band said.
Jim's family says he knows what his journey ahead looks like, but his strong faith in God is what is helping him and them get through this.
“Even though they’re trying to find a cure, there is no cure for what my brother has," his sister Kim said.
So, for now, they're cherishing every moment they have together.
