Vince's Journey

On Saturday Julie, Abbey and I went to Indianapolis to watch Xavier play in the Wooden Classic. Julie's brother, Jerry, and his family also made the trip along with her cousin, Mike Schmitt, and his family. We had a great time if you ignore the fact that we were close to getting kicked out of our hotel due to Mike's yelling at the end of the Notre Dame football game. More on that later.

Xavier looked good in their win over Purdue. I was surprised at the low attendance given the fact that both Purdue and Notre Dame were playing in the 'classic'. While I don't have a count, I'd guess no team sold more tickets than Xaveir and based on what I saw, Xavier was the best team in the field. Purdue will struggle in the Big Ten. Notre Dame doesn't look very good at and NC State has to compete in the ACC - Good Luck. We left at halftime of the NC State/Notre Dame game so my Irish friends could watch the Golden Domers battel it out with a 'strong' Stanford squad.

ND appeared to be in control most of the game but a Stanford kickoff return for a TD combined with ND's one-legged kicker to give the Cardinal hope. Late in the fourth quarter with the Irish clinging to a 6 point lead, the unthinkable happened - an ND defender fell down on a pass play and Stanford was able to take the ball down to the 6 yard line. 2 plays later, the Irish were behind, 31-30. That's when Mike Schmitt decided to let everyone in the Embassy Suites know exactly what he was thinking. Within seconds, security was over having a nice chat with Mike.

As most of you know, ND regrouped to win the game 38-31, and 'earn' a berth to a BCS bowl game. Personally, I have to wonder if they deserve it but they are ND, so what do you expect? Anyway, the word is they may get to play my Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl. That would lead most Irish fans to cower in the corner (similar to Sam the Snowman in Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer), covering their eyes while repeatedly murmuring...'Tell me when its over!' At this point you've probably figured out that there is a little rivalry going on between myself and our relatives who back the Irish.

Hope all is well with you and your familes and that holiday weekend was nice. I'll continue to keep you updated - thanks for all your prayers and support.

Go Bucks!

Vince

I meant to send out a Thanksgiving message earlier but just didn't get to it. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and spent it with the people you love and care about the most. I cooked for all my brothers and sisters and it was very, very nice. I started the turkey at 10:00 am and we were eating at 5:15 pm. 7 hours of cooking for a 20 minute meal but I have to say everything was great!

Every year I always give thanks for another year of good health. I couldn't very well do that this year but I'm planning on doing it next Thanksgiving. I do give thanks for my wonderful family, they are my inspiration and the ones who will provide me with the strength to get my health back. And I also give thanks that there are people who actually come to this Blog site regularly to see how I'm doing. That means a great deal to me and my family.

I have a couple tests coming up and a follow-up appointment with Dr. Leming scheduled for December 7. At that time we'll learn how things have changed over the past two months. I have to admit that I'm very anxious to get to that appointment. It will be interesting to see how things have progressed. I will certainly keep you all posted on how things are going.

I wish you all the best as we head into the holiday season. Hard to believe Christmas is exactly a month away! Relax and enjoy the season!

Thanks for being there for us....

Vince

In keeping with this weeks theme of Ohio State football; unfortunately this isn't something that the Buckeyes will be doing New Years Day in Pasadena. I received another one of those 'chain e-mails' from Irene Baird, an old friend from my days at the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I thought I'd post it here so everyone can read it. Hope you enjoy the message and never forget, 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.' You'll see what I mean after you read the following....

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just
because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know
it was coming or are too rigid to depart from t heir routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who
passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut
back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't
suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed?
Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence
while you watched "your favorite show" on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going
to lunch in a half hour?" She would gasp and stammer, "I can't. I have
clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known
yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite:
"It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch
together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to
schedule our headaches... We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves
when all the conditions are perfect.

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get little Johnny
toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room
carpet.We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids
out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter,
and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we
awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm
going to", "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down
a bit."

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to
adventureand available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new
ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes
and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and
skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's
just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a
spatulaand eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I
stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way
home, I would have died happy.

Now... go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to do... not
something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon
and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would
you say? And why are you waiting?

Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent
this to you.

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to
the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic
flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through
each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the
reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next
hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child,
"We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch?
Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift
thrown away. Life is not a race. Take it a little slower. Hear the
music before the song is over.

It's National Friendship and FAMILY WEEK! Show your friends how
much you care. Send this to everyone y ou consider a FRIEND. If it comes
back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

To those I have sent this to... I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do.

"Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we
might as well dance!"

"Life is what happens while you are making other plans."

As any self-respecting Ohio State fan will tell you, this week is something special. On Saturday the Buckeyes will invade Ann Arbor for their annual, season-ending battle with the Wolverines. A share of the Big Ten title is at stake as well as bragging rights for the next 365 days. There is no other football game quite like it and a win in this game usually erases any disappointment fans may have felt from losses earlier this season.

Since taking over the head coaching job at Ohio State, Jim Tressel is 3-1 against the team from up north. A win Saturday will confirm what all Buckeye fans already know; the days of Michigan dominating Ohio State went out the door the day Jim Tressel took over as head coach.

This past weekend I went to the Ohio State/Northwestern game with our son Aaron, Marshall Esler and Dave Bookman. We had a great time as the Buckeyes destroyed the hapless Wildcats, 48-7. Following the game, thanks to an invitation by friends from our parish – Rob and Laura Toomb, we had the opportunity to meet Buckeye stars; AJ Hawk and Nick Mangold. Both are very humble young men who have been outstanding representatives of The Ohio State University. Hopefully they will end their OSU careers with two more wins and a top 5 finish in the final polls.

So on Saturday at 1 pm we’ll be hunkering down to watch the 103rd meeting between Ohio State and Michigan. We’ll also be keeping an eye on what’s going on in East Lansing as Michigan State plays host to Penn State. Wins by Ohio State and Michigan State will give the Buckeyes the undisputed Big Ten title….Go Bucks! Go Spartans!!

As you might expect, I've received quite a few of those 'inspirational' chain e-mails over the past several weeks. I always read them but whether I forward them on or not is usually dependant on how busy I am. I received the following e-mails this week and thought I'd post them here as a way of forwarding them on. The first one, about the mouse and the mousetrap, is from my Aunt Linda who lives in Arizona. The second one, about the parachute is from Chris Daniel, the mother of one of my football players. Both have wonderful messages and fit in well with the journey we are currently on. I thank you all for being there for us during this time. I hope you realize how much your support and love means to us. And in a small way I'd simply like to say, 'Thanks!' for helping our family pack our parachutes. Thanks for the e-mails, Linda and Chris!!

Mousetrap in the House
We are in this together.
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his
wife open a package. What food might this contain?" He was devastated to
discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a
mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I
can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to
me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the
house." The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse,
but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my
prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow. She said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you,
but it's no skin off my nose." So, the mouse returned to the house, head
down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound
of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital,
and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with
fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the
soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit
with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her
funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all
of them.
So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it
doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all
at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out
for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

SEND THIS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER HELPED YOU OUT AND LET THEM KNOW HOW
IMPORTANT THEY ARE.
REMEMBER: EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR
LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.


Subject: Who's Packing your Parachute?

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions,
his plane was destroyed
by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy
hands.
He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He
survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that
experience!

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at
another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in
Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise
and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"
Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be
here today."

Plumb was amazed that the man had remembered him and kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor." Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he
didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has
someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also
points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was
shot down over enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, his
mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He
called on all these supports before reaching safety.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important.We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on
something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or
just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this
month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.

I a m sending you this as my way of thanking you for your part in
packing my parachute. And I hope you will send it on to those who have helped pack
yours!

Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without
writing a word. Maybe this could explain it: When you are very busy, but
still want to keep in touch, guess what you do -- you forward jokes. And
to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you
are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded
joke.

So my friend, next time when you get a joke, don't think that you've
been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today
and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a
smile!

Just helping you pack your parachute........

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a month since learning I have follicular lymphoma. Things have changed quite a bit since October 4 but at the same time, life goes on as usual. Since we have decided to ‘Wait and Watch’ for at least a couple months there are no doctor appointments, obviously treatments haven’t started and we are simply going about our normal ‘routines’.

This past weekend, Julie and I went to see Elton John in concert. Julie got the tickets for me for my birthday. What an incredible performer. He played for nearly 3 hours and had the US Bank Arena crowd dancing in the aisles.

On Sunday we had Confirmation for Aaron and our niece and nephew, Cori and Dane. They were all in the same class at St. Susanna – it was a very nice ceremony as over 100 young men and women were confirmed by the Archbishop. Immediately following the Mass, I hustled down to my football team’s playoff game against St. Columban. I arrived at halftime and we were trailing 6-0. Unfortunately there was no scoring in the second half and our season came to an end. Coaching the boys was very helpful to me during the past month. It gave me a much needed diversion from everything going on. We fell short of making the championship game but improved a great deal throughout the season. We are already looking forward to next year and making a run at the 6th grade championship.

We continue to be overwhelmed by the support we are receiving. It’s very comforting to know there are so many people praying for our family. I have received so many cards and well wishes…I’m amazed at the number of prayer lists I’m on although I will admit its a little strange hearing your name on the prayer list during Mass. I’m on prayer lists with the Carmelite Nuns, The Priests of the Sacred Heart, The Servants of Mary, The Trinity Missions Mass Society, The Marianist Spiritual Alliance and The Association of the Miraculous Medal. I didn’t realize it but a medal Julie gave me I was baptized back in 1985 is actually the “Miraculous Medal”. I have been wearing it ever since.

I’m also on a prayer list at a neighboring parish, St. Maximillian in West Chester. As a result of being on this list, a man by the name of Chuck Scheper learned about my situation. Chuck was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma 13 years ago, was treated at the Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston and remains cancer-free to this day. Shortly after I was diagnosed, Chuck called to simply let me know I can beat this thing. I’ve talked with him a couple times since; he has been a tremendous source of support and inspiration. I hope to meet him later this month.

I am a little anxious to get going with treatments but have complete faith in the advice of Dr. Leming. Please keep the prayers coming and include everyone who is dealing with a form of cancer, as well as the people who are near and dear to them. I continue to pray for my mother and father-in-law; Viv and Skeets Riestenberg, Ken Murawski, Kelly Pitocco, Tom Holden, Marcia Koepfle, Joeline Lecture and their families. It seems this list grows everyday.

Thanks again for being there for us…you truly are a blessing to Julie, Judd, Aaron, Abbey and me!

Today our oldest son, Judd, turns 17! Its hard to believe he is already 17. I remember his birth like it was yesterday. He was born at 4:04 am in the morning, weighed 8 pounds and 8 ounces, was 22 inches long. He had a rough delivery...at one point Dr. Smith was prepared to do a C-section because they thought they had lost his heartbeat. As a result, they were a little more aggressive about getting him into the world and he was born with a broken collarbone. Shortly after his birth, Julie developed a blood clot in her leg and had to be hospitalized for about a week. Talk about being thrust into the world of fatherhood! I was home with a newborn for about a week.

Today Judd is 6'3", 175 pounds and a junior at Moeller High School. He is interested in studying art in college and has played in Moeller's volleyball program his first two years. This year he should move up to varsity where the bar has been set pretty high. Moeller has won the state championship the past two years. He's been driving for almost a year (although he recently learned that driving 89 miles an hour on the highway will cost you your license for 30 days) and has had a girlfriend since the end of the summer. Tonight he's decided his birthday dinner will be at Outback Steak House.

Judd has been a great son and we love him dearly. We're proud of all that he's accomplished and know that he will do great things as an adult. So today, on his 17th birthday, I simply want to say...Happy Birthday, Judd...your Pappa Persons loves you and is very proud of you!