Vince's Journey

Thanks to Annonymous, Maureen Brandel and my wonderful wife for letting me know that you do, in fact, continue to read my blog (although you haven't been able to read much the past few months). I'll try my best to post on a more consistent basis. Of course this is the same thing I say in our kids' memory books and then I go to write something new and discover its been 18 months since the last entry - I guess it's the thought that counts.

This Friday marks the third anniversary of my first 'clean' PET scan after being diagnosed with lymphoma - April 17, 2006. Hard to believe it's been that long! It was quite an emotional day and it ended with Jules, me and the Emmings at the St. Bernard Dairy Queen celebrating my great news with a Blizzard. We're heading over to Pittsburgh on Friday for Aaron's lacrosse games so I'll have to make sure I find a Dairy Queen over there to celebrate this wonderful anniversary.

Aaron has made it official - he's going to St. Louis University! We've accepted the FACHEX scholarship and sent in the deposit so it looks like I have another decal to add to the rear window of the RAV-4; OSU, XU, UD, Moeller, MND and now SLU. Any more and I won't be able to see through the rear view mirror. Next up for Aaron? Find a date for the prom; but why hurry - it's only next weekend.

I'm continuing to train for this year's endurance bike ride - I'll be going to Asheville, North Carolina in early June to participate in the Fletcher Flyer which is a 100 mile bike ride to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Last Saturday our training ride was 50 miles and we'll build up to 80 miles by the end of May. Training is going fairly well and this year we have about 25 bikers from our chapter who will be making the trip to NC so we should be able to generate quite a bit of money for the LLS. I don't expect this ride to be nealry as large as the one out in Tahoe but I hear it is a beautiful ride and the society won't have to spend nearly as much to get everyone to NC so more money should go toward finding treatments and cures - that's what it's all about, anyway.

Judd just got back from participating in the college national club volleyball tournament in Kansas City. He said his team didn't play very well but on the plus side he said he had a blast - imagine how much fun he could have had had they played well. I was thinking about Judd's high school volleyball team this morning as I was driving in to work. His senior year was such a wonderful experience; he had tremendous team mates and they played so well together, you couldn't ask for a better way for your son's high school career to end. It was a lot of fun to be a part of. I miss the kids and their parents, it was just a special season. That's why I'm so glad Aaron decided to play lacrosse this year; it's nice to be part of a team, again. His team has been struggling a bit but with a couple wins, they can turn things around and have a wonderful season, as well. All they need is to stay confident and things will fall into place. Maybe this weekend in Pittsburgh will be the turning point!

Thanks again for checking in. I'll post again real soon.