ROSEVILLE, Minn. — On one of the first warm days of spring, JC Stroebel can’t help but feel thankful.

“You wanna cherish every single moment, dude,” Stroebel said, standing outside of his Fridley home as his son, Sherwood, plays basketball in the yard.

“There’s this thought that I’ve had as of late as my son begins to create his own memories,” Stroebel said. “I just want to be on my game every moment, because I don’t know what are those moments that my son’s going to remember and cherish for himself.”

Getting to this point – the ability to walk unassisted, speak in full sentences, play like a dad wants to be able to do – took months to get to.

“This was like, a week after, and I was trying to get something for myself,” Stroebel said. “I was just dropping s*** everywhere.”

Last December, the tattoo artist was on his way to work at Beloved Studios in Roseville, when he noticed something odd.

While texting a client, Stroebel says he couldn’t spell anything. Believing it was a migraine, he thought he should continue on to work.

Anna Stroebel, JC’s wife and, who was driving that day, insisted they go.

“We were in the ER, and they were like, ‘you’re gonna be staying here tonight,’ and did a bunch of imaging,” JC said. “And the next morning, they told us, ‘Hey, you have a brain tumor.'”

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of scheduled surgery and recovery plans.

“There was no, there wasn’t even a moment to sit down and be like, ‘Whoa, I have a brain tumor,'” JC said. “It was just like, ‘I have a family. I have a life to live.'”

JC was diagnosed with a Grade 3 oligodendroglioma. Mayo Clinic, where JC was treated, says the cancer is rare.

JC had surgery at the end of last year, and he says he now has an empty portion in his brain. It’s affected his ability to read, write and see clearly.

“Have to basically relearn how to be a tattoo artist from the very beginning of learning how to draw again is quite the endeavor,” he said. “I’m not near tattooing right now.”

Two years ago, Stroebel, a tattoo apprentice at the time, posted on social media after a Minnesota Timberwolves game.

“Will tattoo ‘Naz Reid’ on anyone for $20,” the post on X said. “I’m dead serious.”

Hundreds of people signed up and were tattooed by Stroebel and fellow artist Jessie George. The tattoos blew up so much that Naz Reid himself saw them.

“That’s crazy, I love it,” Reid said during a practice availability in 2024 when asked about the tattoos. “Keep it going!”

Since then, Stroebel’s Wolves fandom has only grown deeper, and the community has only gotten stronger. When JC announced his diagnosis in December, the community not only offered support – they showed up.

“I have this amazing community of people around me,” he said. “Like, I feel like the luckiest man in the world.”

An online fundraiser has raised more than $70,000 for the Stroebels, which has helped with expenses while JC recovers.

As that was happening, someone else reached out to offer their support.

“Right before JC goes in for surgery, you got a nice little from Naz Reid himself!” Anna Stroebel said, speaking to JC inside their kitchen.

“I’m just like, ‘going to brain surgery!'” JC said. “Like, ‘Thanks, Naz Reid!'”

The connection between the two has grown during the rise of the viral “Naz Reid.” tattoos. The Timberwolves also wanted to do something to show their support, and at a home game towards the end of the regular season, those two words led to one conversation.

“We got to go to meet Naz Reid, go to a shootaround,” Anna said. “That was pretty cool.”

“The Wolves have been incredible,” JC added.

JC and Anna met and spoke with Naz Reid, checking in as JC continued recovery.

“I can’t imagine a sports team that is this integrated and tangible in a fan base like this,” JC said.

Recovery has taken time, and will likely take even more.

“He’s doing a lot of different therapies right now, but thankfully, there’s actually a drug created that is supposed to maybe slow growth, which will prolong his need,” Anna said, talking about chemotherapy. “He’ll have to do it eventually. Who knows the length of time, but he’s going to be taking this drug and see, and then that will lead to chemo and radiation whenever that stops working, yeah.”

“This drug pauses growth for as long as it basically decides, and then at that point, I will then do the chemo and radiation, but it could be months,” JC said. “We’re hoping for years.”

Recovery will also include speech and writing skills.

“This has been the most emotional hard time for me, because I basically lost the capability to read and write, which is part of communication that I cherish, and it’s a part of communication that I’m working so hard through therapies and such to get back,” JC said.

“I also think that I have learned so much, my reflections of this has been that I am not the tattoos I make or the straightness of the lines that I draw. There is something more to me and to everybody than just what we do or what we make,” JC said. “And there’s, like, an inherent value in that.”