CANFIELD Valedictorian's drive helped him succeed despite parents' illnesses

Staying focused on his schoolwork was a challenge to this young man.
By JOHN SKENDALL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Jason Laufman, Canfield High School valedictorian, is used to passing the test.
When his mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis three years ago he kept up his goal of being first in his class, kept his busy schedule of extracurriculars and kept taking care of her.
But this school year the driven senior was given a test of willpower that would have led most to throw up their hands.
Last fall, the licensed private pilot, saxophone player, speech captain and hospital volunteer was on stage rehearsing his lines as the lead in his first play when his sister Melissa, a Youngstown State University student, told him his father had just had a stroke.
His dad was being flown to the Cleveland Clinic, and Jason didn't stop reciting his lines, Becky Heikkinen, guidance counselor and drama director, said. Seeing Melissa leave in tears, Heikkinen had to ask Jason what was happening just to find out the news.
It's his work ethic, Heikkinen said. "He came early and stayed late."
And, one might say, it's an uncanny ability to handle pressure.
"I asked him why he wasn't running out right now to be with his family," Heikkinen said. He wanted to finish rehearsal first.
"There was a lot of scary stress," Jason conceded later.
Rare stroke
Jason's father, Dan, a radiologist at St. Elizabeth Health Center, had suffered a rare kind of stroke. To the family's relief, it did not have a severe or crippling effect.
With a drive that might also explain Jason's dead-set determination, Dan was back to work in two weeks.
But the effect on Jason and his three siblings of having a mother, and now a father, stricken with life-threatening conditions has been lasting and difficult.
"Mom was always there and it was always kind of a given," Dan said. Three years ago, he and the kids took up responsibility for helping around the house, driving mom to the store and giving her a painful daily shot.
"I get really frustrated when I get really tired and I don't have the energy to do what I want to do," said Jason's mother, Debbie. "That was a lot for them to take on."
Then came Dan's stroke, leaving Jason and Melissa and the two younger brothers, Justin and Bradley, with even more responsibility. Luckily, help and support came from the Laufmans' church, friends and family.
Aftermath
Dan and Debbie both go to the hospital for regular MRIs and spend a lot of money on medication every month, they said.
Debbie suffers from fatigue from the MS, which is now benign. She often wakes up to see the kids off to school then goes back to bed, she said.
But the family has survived, and then some. Jason's performance in school as a straight-A student, fourth in state in speech, now a two-play veteran of drama and prom king makes that very clear.
"He never holds anything out as a crutch," said Heikkinen.
Taking all advanced-placement and honors courses and staying long hours after school for speech and drama practices, Jason would come home and hit the books, like the many busy students looking to get ahead who do not necessarily share such a trying time at home.
"It's always in the back of your mind, so your focus is always off whenever you're doing anything," Jason said.
"He's determined," Dan said. "We never had to tell him to do his work."
"He's done everything himself," he said.
Jason said he never wanted to settle for a B. He credits his friends with helping him deal with his difficult emotions and breakneck schedule.
"It would have been so easy to just give up," Jason said.
jskendall@vindy.com