Friday, April 22, 2011
Another special anniversary....
As I mentioned in my previous post, April 17 was the 5 year anniversary of my first clean PET scan following my treatments for lymphoma. On April 20, Julie and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary. Our anniversary has become a fairly low key event but we did go out for a nice dinner and the day ended with the boys home from school and everyone sleeping under the same roof for the first time since Christmas; quite a special day indeed.
I was thinking about our 26 years together and all the precious moments that have occurred since April 20, 1985. I don't know if I can come up with something for every year but here is a little trip through our 26 years together....
1985 - Married on April 20. I had lost my job two weeks before our wedding (actually our restaurant closed and I turned down a transfer to Lexington) so I was unemployed when we got married. I got a job at TGIFridays while Julie found a job with a company in Cincinnati called Software Clearing House. We moved to a little apartment in Cincinnati in November of 1985 and I transferred to the Cincinnati TGIFridays.
1986 - I finally found a 'real job' with the Muscular Dystrophy Association in April of 1986. I started the job the day after our 1st wedding anniversary. I remember we ate some the cake we had saved from our wedding and it tasted horrible. Julie was getting her MBA so I spent many nights eating Lean Cuisines and chicken Pot Pies.
1987 - Julie finished up her MBA and we moved to Mason in June of '87. We did have sad news when Julie had a miscarraige a week before Christmas. Two days after Christmas Julie was driving to work, hit an icy patch and the car flipped over. She was not hurt but the car was totaled. We were very hsppy to see 1987 come to an end!
1988 - We welcomed Judd to our family on November 3, 1988. About a week after he was born, Julie developed a blood clot in her leg and wound up in the hospital for about 10 days. Imagine how terrifying that was to me - Jules is in the hospital and I'm home with a week old baby! Several years ago we learned that Jules has a genetic condition which makes her a risk for blod clots - apparently I have the same gene. We also lost a great lady iat the end of '88 - Julie's Grandmother, Realsie. Funny story - I had tickets to the Reds game the night Tom Browning pitched his perfect game - it was raining at game time so we decided to go to the Comedy Club instead. So we missed the only perfect game in Reds history to watch a hack comic named Burt Challis.
1989 - The Bengals played in the Super Bowl - I think it was the last time they were worth a damn. We made our first trip to Disney World with Judd but he was only 5 months old so he obviously doesn't remember it. We did get him some Mickey Ears to wear. In October of '89 we learned that baby #2 was on the way.
1990 - We saw Paul McCartney in concert on opening night of the baseball season. I remember driving home from Lexington listening to the game. Jules was 7 months pregnant at the time. Aaron was born on June 22, 1990, giving Judd a little brother to play with. In October the Reds won the World Series in a 4 game sweep over the Oakland A's. Workwise, Julie switched to work with a little company called Cintech while I continued to work at MDA.
1991 - We moved from our little house on Abilene Trail to our new home on Paddock Lane which we had built during the summer and fall of '91. We moved the same day Freddy Mercury from Queen fame died. I remember pulling up in the driveway and the announcement coming over the radio. You might wonder why I remember that - well I was a big Queen fan and while I wasn't surprised he had died of AIDS, I was sad that this guy who we saw in concert numerous times in college was gone.
1992 - We got a big surprise in early 1992 when we learned that baby #3 was on the way. We thought we were done with the boys but that was not the case. On September 14,1992 Abbey was born (the same night as the Murphy Brown baby) and our family was complete.
1993 - After 7 years with MDA I switched jobs and went to work for the University of Cincinnati. Jules cotinued to work at Cintech but her boss was nuts. We had the three kids at home keeping us busy and were enjoying our friends and neighbors in Trailside Acres.
1994 - We made our second trip to Disney World. Abbey had a serious case of the Chicken pox at the time and she had the marks to prove it. I remember hanging out in a hotel room in Clearwater, Florida while she napped, watching the OJ Simpson/white Bronco chase...very bizarre! Judd started kindergarten in the fall of '94 and had a very interesting teacher named Mrs. King - she looked like Ursula the seawitch in the Little Mermaid. At Christmas I was very excited to give Jules a ring that was for Christmas, her birthday and our 10th anniversary. I remember thinking nothing could ruin Christmas that year. Then I drank too many whiskey sours Christmas eve and got sick Christmas morning. She did love the ring but I felt horrible when i gave it to her.
1995 - Our family vacation took us to Traverse City, Michigan - what a beautiful place. Unfortunately the kids missed the beach. We still made the best of it. We went with the Bruces and our neighbors, the Fiessingers who spent the better part of one day trying to find a shirt with a number on it for their stubborn son, Charlie. They ulitmately had to have one made. Judd started school at St. Susanna, starting a string of 12 consecutive years where we had a child in the school.
1996 - At this point I had become very active in running. I ran my first Marathon in October of '95 and ran another one in the fall of '96. I also decided to make a job change at the end of 1996, taking a job with Wright State University. Jules surprised me with a trip to the Rose Bowl for Christmas - unfortunately Ohio State had lost to Michigan in November so their shot at a national championship was gone. The Buckeyes did beat the hell out of Notre Dame for the second straight year so the season wasn't a complete loss!
1997 - I started my new job with Wright State and learned immediately that I had made a huge mistake - organizationally the place was a mess. Julie tears her ACL and miniscus playing volleyball and needs reconstructive surgery. In the spring we took the kids out west to visit Yellowstone park - it was a wonderful vacation and a beautiful place to visit. Later that year we learned that Julie's brother, Dan, had lymphoma. Little did we know at that time what an impact blood cancers were going to have on our family. Aaron started the first grade at St. Susanna earlier that fall. Dan became quite an inspiration to all of us as he battled the lymphoma.
1998 - Dan's fight with lymphoma continued through most of 1988. I decided to run the Columbus Marathon in honor of Dan. The race was set for November of 1988. Unfortunately Dan's health took a turn for the worse and he passed away in October. At that point I had lost my desire to run the marathon but I realized I owed it to Dan to go up and finish the race. With all the family in attendance, i crossed the finish line - it was a very bittersweet accomplishment. We had planned to go to Chicago to celebrate my 40th birthday in October but after Dan died I really didn't feel like celebrating. So we decided to stay home - Aaron had a soccer game on my birthday so we obviously went to his game. Aaron was probably the littest kid on his team and his coach, not knowing where to play him, made him a spy - basically his job was to annoy the best player on the opposing team. Aaron could see right through the coaches attempt to sell the role as a key role but he actually was very good at it and he played hard. Well, the game was a close one and late in the second half Aaron stole the ball, kicked it to a team mate who put it in the goal for the winning score. I'll never forget how excited he was following the play, his coach picked him up and threw him up in the air. I remember turning to Julie and saying I was so glad we didn't miss that moment - it is something I'll never forget. Aaron, in his typical grumpy style downplayed it after the game but it certainly meant the world to me.
1999 - After two very long years at WSU, I started a new job at Xavier University - where I continue to work to this day. The difference was night and day. I work with wonderful people in a community that's very family oriented. We went skiing in Colorado just before I made my job switch. While in Colorado a tornado hit Cincinnati and I remember watching the coverage on the national news. Abbey started the first grade so we had all 3 kids in school. My dad was sick through a big part of the year. I continued to think that he would be OK but in early November he went to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and passed away in early December. My brother and I drove up to help my mom bring him back home - he was always such a tough man and I never dreamed that he would not beat the disease he was battling. Shorthly after dad's death, we went to Hilton Head to ring in the new millenium - we had quite a scare on New Years eve as Hitlon Head police were doing sobriety checks outside the gates of Sea Pines plantation. Fortunately I had a couple jelly beans before I was stopped so I guess there was no alcohol on my breath (I had only had one drink, anyway.) It did make for a very subdued new year's celebration.
2000 - Julie and I went to Arizona for a few days for our anniversary. My sister had moved there so we were able to stay with her. We discovered a Cork n' Cleaver restaurant there (which is where we met) so we had an anniversary dinner there. We got all the old favorites; Hawaiian chicken, broccoli soup and mud pie. The kids kept us busy with all their school activites - our social calendar revolved around what the kids were doing and the parents from thier teams.
2001 - Juddd is in the 6th grade, Aaron the 4th and Abbey's in the 2nd grade. We begin a tradition of going skiing at Holiday Valley in New York with several other families. On the way we hit a heavy snow storm and it's a miracle that we even make it to Ellicotville. Obviously, everything is turned upside down when the terrorist strike on 9/11. At this point the kids are in the 7th, 5th and 3rd grades. I remember coaching Abbey's basketball game the day after the attacks - it seemed wrong to play the games but actually it helped get life back to normal. Later that week we had our annual block party (which Jules and I always ran) and our entire neighborhood sang God Bless America together - it was a touching scene.
2002 - While participating in gym clas, Aaron is tripped and winds up knocking out his two front teeth. It wasn't until this past summer that he finally had the teeth permanently capped. Judd's 7th grade volleyball team wins the city championship while Aaron had switched to playing lacrosse. I'm coaching Aaron's football team at this point and we had a pretty good season, but lost in the playoffs. I'm also coaching Abbey's basketball team but with far less success.
2003 - We lost two great ladies in 2003, Julie's Aunt Ruth, who had battled Alzheimers disease for close to 10 years, died in March and my mom passed away in late August after being diagnosed with lung cancer. We miss them both so much. In July we went to Hilton Head again for our family vacation. Judd was an 8th grader and headed to Moeller in the fall of 2003. Julie's run at Cintech had come to an end and she started her own little business - Hopkins Marketing. (This little company had a longer run than two previous venture; the Wooden Toy Box and Adornaments which she did with her sisters. 2003 started off in huge fashion as I attended Ohio State's win over Miami in the National Championship game with Marshall Esler and Todd Downey - we had an awesome night in the desert!
2004 - Aaron breaks his arm the first day of summer vacation. It is a compound fracture so he winds up being in a cast most of the summer. We take a family vacation to Texas which coincides with Judd's JO volleyball tournament in Austin. Following the tourney we spend a few days in San Antonio visiting the Alamo, Riverwalk and other attractions. In April we just miss watching Xavier advance to the Final Four as they lost to Duke in the Elite Eight in Atlanta.
2005 - Truly a life changing year for all of us. While on vacation in Captiva, I discovered a lump in my neck which wound up being follicular lymphoma. Telling the kids about my disease is the toughest thing I've ever had to do. After the initial shock we all pulled together as a familiy and life went on as close to normal as possible. I was very proud of the way the Julie and the kids responded to my situation and I couldn't have made it through those tough times without them.
2006 - I went through treatments the first 6 months of 2006. As I noted in my previous post, my first clean PET scans occured on April 17, 2006. Following my treatments we took a well deserved trip to Lake Tahoe. It was a wonderful vacation which included Julie's brother's (Jerry) family, as well. Ohio State had a wonderful season and again qualified for the national championship game. I had hoped to go to the season ending game against Michigan but despite playing the cancer card, Amy Downey wasn't about to give me her ticket so we watched the game with a bunch of college students which turned out to probably be more fun than being at the game in person - take that, Amy! I also broke my rib in 2006 - I had a lot of physical issues that year!!!
2007 - We go to Phoenix again to watch Ohio State in the national championship game but they get pounded by Florida. Adding insult to injury, Ohio State loses to Florida in the NCAA basketball championship game, as well. Judd graduates from high school and a week later wins the state championship in volleyball - they had an awesome team going 29-0. Aaron played JV lacrosse for Moeller and Abbey was graduating from the 8th grade. I was a chaperone for Abbey's class trip to Washington D.C. and we had a great time. While in D.C. I got a call from Julie and Judd to let me know he had received a full tuition scholarship to attend UD - we were all very excited.
2008 - Another year, another loss by Ohio State in the NC game - this time to LSU in New Orleans.Our family vacation takes us to Aruba. It was a very interesting place and the resort we stayed at was wonderful. Aaron turned 18 while we were there and he was able to order an Iguana punch from the bar. We also watched Tiger Woods win the US Open while in Aruba - which was the last major won by Tiger. A couple weeks before our vacation I rode in America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride out at Lake Tahoe - a 100 mile trip around the lake. It was quite an accomplishment considering I could hardly walk 100 yards without getting winded the last time we were in Tahoe. Later that summer, we lost Julie's dad, Skeeter, following a massive stroke.
2009 - Aaron graduates from Moeller. He receives a full tution scholarship to St. Louis University and decides to go west. It was a very difficult day moving him out to SLU. It was tough leaving him behind; we left Judd 45 minutes away when we took him to school but Aaron was going to be 5 hours away, quite a difference. We had a great vacation in Hilton Head during the summer of 2009 and I did another bike ride for Team in Training - this time in Asheville, North Carolina.
2010 - After nearly 4 years, my lymphoma resurfaces in March of 2010. They try to knock it back down with Rituxin but it doesn't work. After trying to figure out how to treat the relapse through most of the summer, it's decided to start a treatment called Bendamustine in Spetember. The treatnets will last through January of 2011. Julie took on a full time job with Cintech in February of 2010. This was following a trip out Las Vegas for her last fulltime frelance job. I tagged along with her and we went to see the Hoover Dam and The Beatles Love show. Abbey starts her senior year in High School and has a very good year in field hockey. She received a few post season awards and made some wonderful friends during her 4 years in the program.
2011 - Finally! I had no idea how long this would take when I started typing about an hour ago. I learned that the treatments had worked on my lymphoma in early Febraury. They'll do another round of scans in June. I'm also riding in the Lake Tahoe ride again in June - I'm trying to raise $10,000 and have about $2500 to go - leave me a message if you'd like to help. Julie started a new job with Medpace in January and she really loves it there. She says its the first normal company she's ever worked for. I continue to work at Xavier - I just finished my 12th year. Judd and Abbey will both graduate in May and Abbey plans to go to the University of Dayton in August - she also got a full scholarship to attend UD. Aaron hopes to study abroad in Madrid, Spain in the fall - hopefully he'll get everything together and pull it off. With that, I think this trip down memeory lane is over - I hope some of you took the time to read all this. I'm sure I'm leaving out some pretty major stuff - I guess I can add it at a later time! Wishing you all a Happy Easter!!!
Vince
I was thinking about our 26 years together and all the precious moments that have occurred since April 20, 1985. I don't know if I can come up with something for every year but here is a little trip through our 26 years together....
1985 - Married on April 20. I had lost my job two weeks before our wedding (actually our restaurant closed and I turned down a transfer to Lexington) so I was unemployed when we got married. I got a job at TGIFridays while Julie found a job with a company in Cincinnati called Software Clearing House. We moved to a little apartment in Cincinnati in November of 1985 and I transferred to the Cincinnati TGIFridays.
1986 - I finally found a 'real job' with the Muscular Dystrophy Association in April of 1986. I started the job the day after our 1st wedding anniversary. I remember we ate some the cake we had saved from our wedding and it tasted horrible. Julie was getting her MBA so I spent many nights eating Lean Cuisines and chicken Pot Pies.
1987 - Julie finished up her MBA and we moved to Mason in June of '87. We did have sad news when Julie had a miscarraige a week before Christmas. Two days after Christmas Julie was driving to work, hit an icy patch and the car flipped over. She was not hurt but the car was totaled. We were very hsppy to see 1987 come to an end!
1988 - We welcomed Judd to our family on November 3, 1988. About a week after he was born, Julie developed a blood clot in her leg and wound up in the hospital for about 10 days. Imagine how terrifying that was to me - Jules is in the hospital and I'm home with a week old baby! Several years ago we learned that Jules has a genetic condition which makes her a risk for blod clots - apparently I have the same gene. We also lost a great lady iat the end of '88 - Julie's Grandmother, Realsie. Funny story - I had tickets to the Reds game the night Tom Browning pitched his perfect game - it was raining at game time so we decided to go to the Comedy Club instead. So we missed the only perfect game in Reds history to watch a hack comic named Burt Challis.
1989 - The Bengals played in the Super Bowl - I think it was the last time they were worth a damn. We made our first trip to Disney World with Judd but he was only 5 months old so he obviously doesn't remember it. We did get him some Mickey Ears to wear. In October of '89 we learned that baby #2 was on the way.
1990 - We saw Paul McCartney in concert on opening night of the baseball season. I remember driving home from Lexington listening to the game. Jules was 7 months pregnant at the time. Aaron was born on June 22, 1990, giving Judd a little brother to play with. In October the Reds won the World Series in a 4 game sweep over the Oakland A's. Workwise, Julie switched to work with a little company called Cintech while I continued to work at MDA.
1991 - We moved from our little house on Abilene Trail to our new home on Paddock Lane which we had built during the summer and fall of '91. We moved the same day Freddy Mercury from Queen fame died. I remember pulling up in the driveway and the announcement coming over the radio. You might wonder why I remember that - well I was a big Queen fan and while I wasn't surprised he had died of AIDS, I was sad that this guy who we saw in concert numerous times in college was gone.
1992 - We got a big surprise in early 1992 when we learned that baby #3 was on the way. We thought we were done with the boys but that was not the case. On September 14,1992 Abbey was born (the same night as the Murphy Brown baby) and our family was complete.
1993 - After 7 years with MDA I switched jobs and went to work for the University of Cincinnati. Jules cotinued to work at Cintech but her boss was nuts. We had the three kids at home keeping us busy and were enjoying our friends and neighbors in Trailside Acres.
1994 - We made our second trip to Disney World. Abbey had a serious case of the Chicken pox at the time and she had the marks to prove it. I remember hanging out in a hotel room in Clearwater, Florida while she napped, watching the OJ Simpson/white Bronco chase...very bizarre! Judd started kindergarten in the fall of '94 and had a very interesting teacher named Mrs. King - she looked like Ursula the seawitch in the Little Mermaid. At Christmas I was very excited to give Jules a ring that was for Christmas, her birthday and our 10th anniversary. I remember thinking nothing could ruin Christmas that year. Then I drank too many whiskey sours Christmas eve and got sick Christmas morning. She did love the ring but I felt horrible when i gave it to her.
1995 - Our family vacation took us to Traverse City, Michigan - what a beautiful place. Unfortunately the kids missed the beach. We still made the best of it. We went with the Bruces and our neighbors, the Fiessingers who spent the better part of one day trying to find a shirt with a number on it for their stubborn son, Charlie. They ulitmately had to have one made. Judd started school at St. Susanna, starting a string of 12 consecutive years where we had a child in the school.
1996 - At this point I had become very active in running. I ran my first Marathon in October of '95 and ran another one in the fall of '96. I also decided to make a job change at the end of 1996, taking a job with Wright State University. Jules surprised me with a trip to the Rose Bowl for Christmas - unfortunately Ohio State had lost to Michigan in November so their shot at a national championship was gone. The Buckeyes did beat the hell out of Notre Dame for the second straight year so the season wasn't a complete loss!
1997 - I started my new job with Wright State and learned immediately that I had made a huge mistake - organizationally the place was a mess. Julie tears her ACL and miniscus playing volleyball and needs reconstructive surgery. In the spring we took the kids out west to visit Yellowstone park - it was a wonderful vacation and a beautiful place to visit. Later that year we learned that Julie's brother, Dan, had lymphoma. Little did we know at that time what an impact blood cancers were going to have on our family. Aaron started the first grade at St. Susanna earlier that fall. Dan became quite an inspiration to all of us as he battled the lymphoma.
1998 - Dan's fight with lymphoma continued through most of 1988. I decided to run the Columbus Marathon in honor of Dan. The race was set for November of 1988. Unfortunately Dan's health took a turn for the worse and he passed away in October. At that point I had lost my desire to run the marathon but I realized I owed it to Dan to go up and finish the race. With all the family in attendance, i crossed the finish line - it was a very bittersweet accomplishment. We had planned to go to Chicago to celebrate my 40th birthday in October but after Dan died I really didn't feel like celebrating. So we decided to stay home - Aaron had a soccer game on my birthday so we obviously went to his game. Aaron was probably the littest kid on his team and his coach, not knowing where to play him, made him a spy - basically his job was to annoy the best player on the opposing team. Aaron could see right through the coaches attempt to sell the role as a key role but he actually was very good at it and he played hard. Well, the game was a close one and late in the second half Aaron stole the ball, kicked it to a team mate who put it in the goal for the winning score. I'll never forget how excited he was following the play, his coach picked him up and threw him up in the air. I remember turning to Julie and saying I was so glad we didn't miss that moment - it is something I'll never forget. Aaron, in his typical grumpy style downplayed it after the game but it certainly meant the world to me.
1999 - After two very long years at WSU, I started a new job at Xavier University - where I continue to work to this day. The difference was night and day. I work with wonderful people in a community that's very family oriented. We went skiing in Colorado just before I made my job switch. While in Colorado a tornado hit Cincinnati and I remember watching the coverage on the national news. Abbey started the first grade so we had all 3 kids in school. My dad was sick through a big part of the year. I continued to think that he would be OK but in early November he went to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and passed away in early December. My brother and I drove up to help my mom bring him back home - he was always such a tough man and I never dreamed that he would not beat the disease he was battling. Shorthly after dad's death, we went to Hilton Head to ring in the new millenium - we had quite a scare on New Years eve as Hitlon Head police were doing sobriety checks outside the gates of Sea Pines plantation. Fortunately I had a couple jelly beans before I was stopped so I guess there was no alcohol on my breath (I had only had one drink, anyway.) It did make for a very subdued new year's celebration.
2000 - Julie and I went to Arizona for a few days for our anniversary. My sister had moved there so we were able to stay with her. We discovered a Cork n' Cleaver restaurant there (which is where we met) so we had an anniversary dinner there. We got all the old favorites; Hawaiian chicken, broccoli soup and mud pie. The kids kept us busy with all their school activites - our social calendar revolved around what the kids were doing and the parents from thier teams.
2001 - Juddd is in the 6th grade, Aaron the 4th and Abbey's in the 2nd grade. We begin a tradition of going skiing at Holiday Valley in New York with several other families. On the way we hit a heavy snow storm and it's a miracle that we even make it to Ellicotville. Obviously, everything is turned upside down when the terrorist strike on 9/11. At this point the kids are in the 7th, 5th and 3rd grades. I remember coaching Abbey's basketball game the day after the attacks - it seemed wrong to play the games but actually it helped get life back to normal. Later that week we had our annual block party (which Jules and I always ran) and our entire neighborhood sang God Bless America together - it was a touching scene.
2002 - While participating in gym clas, Aaron is tripped and winds up knocking out his two front teeth. It wasn't until this past summer that he finally had the teeth permanently capped. Judd's 7th grade volleyball team wins the city championship while Aaron had switched to playing lacrosse. I'm coaching Aaron's football team at this point and we had a pretty good season, but lost in the playoffs. I'm also coaching Abbey's basketball team but with far less success.
2003 - We lost two great ladies in 2003, Julie's Aunt Ruth, who had battled Alzheimers disease for close to 10 years, died in March and my mom passed away in late August after being diagnosed with lung cancer. We miss them both so much. In July we went to Hilton Head again for our family vacation. Judd was an 8th grader and headed to Moeller in the fall of 2003. Julie's run at Cintech had come to an end and she started her own little business - Hopkins Marketing. (This little company had a longer run than two previous venture; the Wooden Toy Box and Adornaments which she did with her sisters. 2003 started off in huge fashion as I attended Ohio State's win over Miami in the National Championship game with Marshall Esler and Todd Downey - we had an awesome night in the desert!
2004 - Aaron breaks his arm the first day of summer vacation. It is a compound fracture so he winds up being in a cast most of the summer. We take a family vacation to Texas which coincides with Judd's JO volleyball tournament in Austin. Following the tourney we spend a few days in San Antonio visiting the Alamo, Riverwalk and other attractions. In April we just miss watching Xavier advance to the Final Four as they lost to Duke in the Elite Eight in Atlanta.
2005 - Truly a life changing year for all of us. While on vacation in Captiva, I discovered a lump in my neck which wound up being follicular lymphoma. Telling the kids about my disease is the toughest thing I've ever had to do. After the initial shock we all pulled together as a familiy and life went on as close to normal as possible. I was very proud of the way the Julie and the kids responded to my situation and I couldn't have made it through those tough times without them.
2006 - I went through treatments the first 6 months of 2006. As I noted in my previous post, my first clean PET scans occured on April 17, 2006. Following my treatments we took a well deserved trip to Lake Tahoe. It was a wonderful vacation which included Julie's brother's (Jerry) family, as well. Ohio State had a wonderful season and again qualified for the national championship game. I had hoped to go to the season ending game against Michigan but despite playing the cancer card, Amy Downey wasn't about to give me her ticket so we watched the game with a bunch of college students which turned out to probably be more fun than being at the game in person - take that, Amy! I also broke my rib in 2006 - I had a lot of physical issues that year!!!
2007 - We go to Phoenix again to watch Ohio State in the national championship game but they get pounded by Florida. Adding insult to injury, Ohio State loses to Florida in the NCAA basketball championship game, as well. Judd graduates from high school and a week later wins the state championship in volleyball - they had an awesome team going 29-0. Aaron played JV lacrosse for Moeller and Abbey was graduating from the 8th grade. I was a chaperone for Abbey's class trip to Washington D.C. and we had a great time. While in D.C. I got a call from Julie and Judd to let me know he had received a full tuition scholarship to attend UD - we were all very excited.
2008 - Another year, another loss by Ohio State in the NC game - this time to LSU in New Orleans.Our family vacation takes us to Aruba. It was a very interesting place and the resort we stayed at was wonderful. Aaron turned 18 while we were there and he was able to order an Iguana punch from the bar. We also watched Tiger Woods win the US Open while in Aruba - which was the last major won by Tiger. A couple weeks before our vacation I rode in America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride out at Lake Tahoe - a 100 mile trip around the lake. It was quite an accomplishment considering I could hardly walk 100 yards without getting winded the last time we were in Tahoe. Later that summer, we lost Julie's dad, Skeeter, following a massive stroke.
2009 - Aaron graduates from Moeller. He receives a full tution scholarship to St. Louis University and decides to go west. It was a very difficult day moving him out to SLU. It was tough leaving him behind; we left Judd 45 minutes away when we took him to school but Aaron was going to be 5 hours away, quite a difference. We had a great vacation in Hilton Head during the summer of 2009 and I did another bike ride for Team in Training - this time in Asheville, North Carolina.
2010 - After nearly 4 years, my lymphoma resurfaces in March of 2010. They try to knock it back down with Rituxin but it doesn't work. After trying to figure out how to treat the relapse through most of the summer, it's decided to start a treatment called Bendamustine in Spetember. The treatnets will last through January of 2011. Julie took on a full time job with Cintech in February of 2010. This was following a trip out Las Vegas for her last fulltime frelance job. I tagged along with her and we went to see the Hoover Dam and The Beatles Love show. Abbey starts her senior year in High School and has a very good year in field hockey. She received a few post season awards and made some wonderful friends during her 4 years in the program.
2011 - Finally! I had no idea how long this would take when I started typing about an hour ago. I learned that the treatments had worked on my lymphoma in early Febraury. They'll do another round of scans in June. I'm also riding in the Lake Tahoe ride again in June - I'm trying to raise $10,000 and have about $2500 to go - leave me a message if you'd like to help. Julie started a new job with Medpace in January and she really loves it there. She says its the first normal company she's ever worked for. I continue to work at Xavier - I just finished my 12th year. Judd and Abbey will both graduate in May and Abbey plans to go to the University of Dayton in August - she also got a full scholarship to attend UD. Aaron hopes to study abroad in Madrid, Spain in the fall - hopefully he'll get everything together and pull it off. With that, I think this trip down memeory lane is over - I hope some of you took the time to read all this. I'm sure I'm leaving out some pretty major stuff - I guess I can add it at a later time! Wishing you all a Happy Easter!!!
Vince
Sunday, April 17, 2011
5 Years Ago Today....
Was a very big day in my lymphoma 'journey'. After an inconclusive CT scan it was decided that I have a PET scan to determine if the chemotherapy treatments were working. This was following my 4th treatment and CT scans determined that some of my lymph nodes did not appear to be shrinking as well as others. Dr. Leming said it could be the result of scaring around the nodes but the only way to know would be to do a PET scan. So on the morning of April 17, 2006 I went to Christ Hospital for the scan followed by an appointment with Dr. Leming in the afternoon. You can only imagine the anxiety we had built up inside us. I had been going through treatments since early January and if they weren't working as expected it would be a huge set back. Unfortunately, When we met with Dr. Leming he did not have the scan results. We were pretty disappointed (and frustrated) and we let him know it. He said we were reading too much into the scans but said he would get the results ASAP and let us know. Later that afternoon he did call and his first words were "I'm looking at a very boring scan!" I asked if boring was good and he said boring is great - there are no signs of the lymphoma, you appear to be in remission!! I started to cry on the spot. It was the news we had been wanting to hear since I was diagnosed. Later that night Judd had a volleyball match at Roger Bacon High School. I was able to share the news with him and many of our friends from his team. Following the match we went to Dairy Queen and celebrated with a blizzard, something I've done every year arounf April 17 since 2006. This past Friday I went to the same DQ in St. Bernard with some colleagues from work and Mike Emming - the friend who helped establish the tradition 5 years ago - joined us. It was very nice of him (and my co-workers)to take the time to celebrate this special anniversary with me.
This weekend we went skeet shooting at Elk Creek Range and Vineyard with a group of friends. it was cold, windy and rainy but we had a great time. I had never shot a gun in my life but I was able to hit 7 skeets out of about 20 shots. Julie hit 2 out of about 15 shots. I couldn't tell you who hit the most but i can tell you there were many, many skeets that didn't break until they fell harmlessly to the ground. Following skeet shooting, we went to the Vineyard and then had a great meal back at our lodge. It was a very relaxing evening and we headed back to Cincinnati this morning.
Abbey has made her college choice - she is going to be a Dayton Flyer! We're very excited that she chose Dayton and know she'll fit in quite well up there. I think it was a tougher decision for her than I thought it would be - we visited St. Louis last week and Abbey enjoyed the visit. I don't know what the deciding factor was but I think she'll beappy h she's only 45 minutes from home once she starts her freshman year in August.
Last week a little girl in our neighborhood was diagnosed with leukemia. Since I'm riding the Lake Tahoe ride in June for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society I've decided to ride in honor of this little girl; Maya Collins. She starts chemo treatments this week so please remember her and her family in your prayers - they are about to go through a very difficult stretch.
We're looking forward to the family being together for the Easter break. Aaron and Judd will both be home Wednesday night and won't have to go back to school until next Monday. It will be great to have everyone together although I'm sure they'll be running around visiting their friends. As long as we can have one dinner together and it can seem like old times - I'll be happy.
Graduation day for Judd is May 8. If anyone knows of a company that could use an entry level graphic designer please let us know - we just might have the right man for them!
Have a great week and wishing you all a Hapy Easter!
Vince
This weekend we went skeet shooting at Elk Creek Range and Vineyard with a group of friends. it was cold, windy and rainy but we had a great time. I had never shot a gun in my life but I was able to hit 7 skeets out of about 20 shots. Julie hit 2 out of about 15 shots. I couldn't tell you who hit the most but i can tell you there were many, many skeets that didn't break until they fell harmlessly to the ground. Following skeet shooting, we went to the Vineyard and then had a great meal back at our lodge. It was a very relaxing evening and we headed back to Cincinnati this morning.
Abbey has made her college choice - she is going to be a Dayton Flyer! We're very excited that she chose Dayton and know she'll fit in quite well up there. I think it was a tougher decision for her than I thought it would be - we visited St. Louis last week and Abbey enjoyed the visit. I don't know what the deciding factor was but I think she'll beappy h she's only 45 minutes from home once she starts her freshman year in August.
Last week a little girl in our neighborhood was diagnosed with leukemia. Since I'm riding the Lake Tahoe ride in June for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society I've decided to ride in honor of this little girl; Maya Collins. She starts chemo treatments this week so please remember her and her family in your prayers - they are about to go through a very difficult stretch.
We're looking forward to the family being together for the Easter break. Aaron and Judd will both be home Wednesday night and won't have to go back to school until next Monday. It will be great to have everyone together although I'm sure they'll be running around visiting their friends. As long as we can have one dinner together and it can seem like old times - I'll be happy.
Graduation day for Judd is May 8. If anyone knows of a company that could use an entry level graphic designer please let us know - we just might have the right man for them!
Have a great week and wishing you all a Hapy Easter!
Vince
Thursday, April 07, 2011
April 7, 1932....
Today is my dad's birthday; he was born April 7, 1932 in Dayton, Ohio. He passed away in December of 1999 in Rochester, Minnesota. He was at the Mayo Clinic when he died - it is hard to believe its been close to 12 years since his death. He was only 67, he would have turned 79 today.
My dad was a man's man. I never saw him do any housework or cook, he worked Monday through Friday as an Ironworker and the weekends were his. There were eight kids in our family and it was my mom's job to do all the housework, cook meals, take care of the sick, get us up for school and drive us to any after school activites we might have. Dad's sole job at home was discipline and that he did quite well. I don't know if I speak for my siblings but I personally was very scared of my dad. He had a mean streak like no one I've ever seen. And he could carry on his mean streak for days. He could be downright unbearable to live with. And when he was on one of his mean streaks it was best to just steer clear of him because if you got in his path, you were going to be sorry.
But as mean and downright nasty as he could be, he was at times equally charming. When he was in a good mood he was a blast to be around - he told jokes, made you laugh and could be very generous. Unfortunately those occassions were few and far between. I always attributed his moods to the fact that he was raising 8 kids, living paycheck to paycheck and I'm sure it had to weigh heavily on his mind. I look back on my childhood today and I have to laugh - I'm sure ours was quite different from many of you who read this blog. It wasn't until I was older that I grew to appreciate my upbringing. And it wasn't until all us kids were out of the house and my dad neared retirement that he seemed to mellow and enjoy his family. Unfortunately he only got to enjoy a couple of years after retirement before he got sick and passed away.
I do miss him. When I went to college he used to come up to Ohio State to watch football games in the fall. We continued going to games when my brother, Rich, was a student at OSU. And he also developed an enjoyment of golf in his later years and I tried to play with him a couple times each summer. Those were times quite different from my childhood. I never felt like he wanted to be around us when we were kids and similar to the song 'Cats in the Cradle' there never seemed to be enough time to get together once I had my own family - and that's something I regret because I wish my kids would have been able to spend more time with him, to see the fun side that my brothers and sisters saw from time to time. Living away from Dayton I think our kids didn't get to see him as much as the grandchildren who live in Dayton. I do think my kids have fond memories of him - which is good. I just wish the past 12 years would have provided them with more memories - he left us far too soon. Happy Birthday, dad - we miss you!
My dad was a man's man. I never saw him do any housework or cook, he worked Monday through Friday as an Ironworker and the weekends were his. There were eight kids in our family and it was my mom's job to do all the housework, cook meals, take care of the sick, get us up for school and drive us to any after school activites we might have. Dad's sole job at home was discipline and that he did quite well. I don't know if I speak for my siblings but I personally was very scared of my dad. He had a mean streak like no one I've ever seen. And he could carry on his mean streak for days. He could be downright unbearable to live with. And when he was on one of his mean streaks it was best to just steer clear of him because if you got in his path, you were going to be sorry.
But as mean and downright nasty as he could be, he was at times equally charming. When he was in a good mood he was a blast to be around - he told jokes, made you laugh and could be very generous. Unfortunately those occassions were few and far between. I always attributed his moods to the fact that he was raising 8 kids, living paycheck to paycheck and I'm sure it had to weigh heavily on his mind. I look back on my childhood today and I have to laugh - I'm sure ours was quite different from many of you who read this blog. It wasn't until I was older that I grew to appreciate my upbringing. And it wasn't until all us kids were out of the house and my dad neared retirement that he seemed to mellow and enjoy his family. Unfortunately he only got to enjoy a couple of years after retirement before he got sick and passed away.
I do miss him. When I went to college he used to come up to Ohio State to watch football games in the fall. We continued going to games when my brother, Rich, was a student at OSU. And he also developed an enjoyment of golf in his later years and I tried to play with him a couple times each summer. Those were times quite different from my childhood. I never felt like he wanted to be around us when we were kids and similar to the song 'Cats in the Cradle' there never seemed to be enough time to get together once I had my own family - and that's something I regret because I wish my kids would have been able to spend more time with him, to see the fun side that my brothers and sisters saw from time to time. Living away from Dayton I think our kids didn't get to see him as much as the grandchildren who live in Dayton. I do think my kids have fond memories of him - which is good. I just wish the past 12 years would have provided them with more memories - he left us far too soon. Happy Birthday, dad - we miss you!
