Vince's Journey

It seems like a day doesn't go by where we receive an e-mail or phone call about someone close (family/friends/neighbors) in need of prayers. I know I've mentioned our neighbor, Maya Collins on several occassions. Maya recently completed her second round of chemo and she is going through a very rough stage. She's been dealing with infections, high fevers, a low heart beat and when she gets through this current cycle she'll be going having a stem cell procedure. Her parents feel like they are on a rollercoaster ride that they just can't get off of.

Last night we learned that a young man who Judd went to high school and played volleyball with was involved in a serious jet ski accident over the weekend and will be needing surgery in the near future. His name is Danny brandel and his parents, Dave and Maureen, were very supportive of me when I was going through my first round of treatments back in 2006 - Maureen used to check my blog quite a bit and leave supportive and uplifting messages which certainly kept my spirits up during a very difficult time.

I believe I've also mentioned Julie's Aunt Sharon, who has been going through a battle with cancer of her own. Sharon was in town in late May (she lives in Denver) for to take in some of the graduation celebrations and we're looking forward to her coming back to Ohio in a couple weeks as all the Judd families will be embarking on a long weekend in Hocking Hills.

If you could I'd like to ask you to lift up a special prayer for Maya, Danny and Sharon - I knowe it would be greatly appreciated. I've mentioned many times that nothing is more powerful than knowing many, many people are praying for your recovery - I know your thoughts and prayers would comfort the Collins and Brandel families as well as Aunt Sharon and her husband, Bruce.

Over the past year or so the kids and I have been frequenting a website called Sporcle.com. At the site they put up 4-5 memory games a day and there are literally millions of people who partake in the games. This week there was a quiz for the top 10 movies of the past decade according to various film critics. Some of the movies, I have to admit, I've never heard of but being a person who never passes up the chance to compile a Top Ten list, here are my Top Ten movies from the past decade...

10. Billy Elliot - Story about an English boy who shows more of a desire to be a ballet star than a boxer, which his very stubborn father would prefer. Great performance by Jamie Bell, the young man who played Billy. This movie has been turned in to a broadway musical featuring music by Elton John and the play will be making its way to Cincinnati this season.

9. Almost Famous - a 15 year old journalist for Rolling Stone hits the road with a rock band in this autobiographical film made by Cameron Crowe.

8. A History of Violence - A man involved in the mob vanishes and starts a new life in rural Indiana only to be discovered by the people he desserted when he thwarts a coffee shop robbery and makes national news.

7. The Dark Knight - The best Batman film ever made featuring an amazing and Academy Award winning performance by Heath Ledger as the Joker.

6. Gladiator - Russell Crowe as General Maximus out to gain vengence for the murder of his wife and son.

5. Little Miss Sunshine - Tale about a family of misfits trying to get their young daughter to the 'Little Miss Sunshine' beauty pageant.

5. The Fighter - True story about boxer Mickey Ward who, despite huge odds and distractions from his family, won the junior welter weight boxing championship of the world. Christian Bale steals the show as Ward's crack addicted borther and corner man, Dicky.

4. Slumdog Millionaire - A young man from the streets of Mumbai gains fame by reaching the million dollar question on India's version of the hit gameshow, Who Want's to Be a Millionaire. The only problem is, every one thinks he's cheating and he has to explain how he knows all the answers which he does by telling his life story.

3. Inglourious Basterds - Another Quentin Tarrantino classic about a group of Nazi hunters known as the 'Inglourious Basterds'. Very violent but meticulously crafted.

2. Up - Pixar hit a homerun with this tale about an elderly man who sets out to live the adventure he was never able to do with the love of his life, his wife Ellie. Very touching and heart warming.

1. Finding Neverland - The story of Author J.M. Barrie and the family that inspired him to write his most famous work, Peter Pan. If you haven't seen this movie it obviously comes very highly recommended. Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet are the stars.

I guess that's enough for now - again please lift Maya, Danny and Sharon up in your prayers!! Peace and blessings to all....

I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Leming to go over the results of last weeks CT scans. The news was all good, there are no new developments and everything remained stable since the last scans in February. Next appointment won't be till October. So we can take a deep breath and have a nice, relaxing summer. Thanks to all for your ongoing thoughts and concerns. As always, continue to pray for cures for all cancers. I'll post again in the near future.

I'm back from Tahoe and the 100 mile bike ride turned out to be quite an inspiring event. When I participated in this ride in 2008 the weather was spectacular - not a cloud in the sky and the temperature rose to the mid-60's; absolutely perfect conditions. Unfortunately the same could not be said about the weather we encountered last Sunday, the day of the ride. The following is an excert from an e-mail I sent to Tom and Bonnie Collins following the ride. Their 7 year old daughter, Maya, is currently being treated for leukemia and I decided to ride this event in honor of her.........

"We woke up to a less than spectacualr Tahoe morning; we got up at 5 am, looked out the window and it was pouring rain. In addition, it was 37degrees. Needless to say I was not very excited about riding 7+ hours on a bicycle in nearly freezing temperatures and rain. Had I been in Ohio I would have gone back to bed but I trained 6 months for the ride so I grudgingly put on my cycle gear and headed up to meet my team at their hotel.

When I got to their hotel I was, for lack of a better word, pissed! I’d only been outside for a couple blocks but I was already wet, cold and the ride had not even started. I even said a few choice words to my team that I won’t repeat but let’s just say I made it very well known that I was none too excited about going out in that miserable weather and riding a bike. I then looked down and caught a quick glimpse of my wrist and there, peeking out from under the multiple layers of Under Armor, I could see my orange, ‘Magnificent Maya!’ wrist band. I had also folded a picture of Maya up and put it in my pocket so I pulled it out and looked at it (it was the one in her colorful ‘peace sign’ pajamas). I then remembered the last time I had seen Maya, she was on your driveway sitting on her bike. I then thought about all the times I’ve driven by your house and seen her out front playing and waving as I drove by and how much I’d love to drive by your house now and see her out there playing again. At that point I felt pretty ashamed of my attitude and started to cry. I gathered our team together and talked about Maya. I told them we may have to ride through some miserable weather but it doesn’t come close to what your family is going through right now. I told them about the last time I had seen Maya on her bike and said lets all go out and ride today for her and whoever it is that’s near and dear to you who has struggled with a blood related cancer. We all hugged, went out to the start line and everyone completed the ride. Throughout the day, I’d look down at my wrist and the band would inspire me to keep going. I even talked with Maya several times during the ride. I’d say, ‘OK, Maya, I’m feeling pretty cold, tired and sore but we’re going to finish this thing!’ And we did."

So you can see why I considered the ride so inspiring. I've followed Maya's journey on almost a daily basis and I realized that if she is able to endure everything she's been going through, I can go out and ride a bike in the cold and rain. I plan to give her my medal as thanks for being such an inspiration - had it not been for her the ride would have just been another ride. Even in the cold and rain it turned out to be very special.

I haven't been able to give my opinion on the whole Jim Tressel/Ohio State fiasco lately. Needless to say I was very disappointed when Coach Tressel finally resigned. I met him last summer and truly believe he is a good man, a great leader and will miss him patroling the sidelines at Ohio Stadium. I compare what he did to a parent protecting his/her child. When kids come to Ohio State to play football Coach Tressel tells their parents that he will take care of their sons. I think that's what he was doing when he didn't come forward with the information about the players and the tattoo situation. I don't think it had anything to do with winning football games and everything to do with fulfilling promises he had made to the parents of the kids involved. Obviously this doesn't make it right but I can understand why he did what he did. Does this stain his image - of course it does. Does this make him a dirty sleaze, cheat, phoney, piece of crap as some of the media are reporting and would want you to believe - hell no! Should he have lost his job over this? I don't think so but when the sharks (media) get someone in their crosshairs they're not going to stop until they totally destroy the person and everyone thing he/she has achieved. That's what makes me sick. Tressel has done more for his kids (and college football) than 99% of the coaches out there and to read some of the recent stories he's the biggest cheat in the history of college football - that's wrong. All I can say to the media is it must be nice living in glass houses, wouldn't it be interesting if the tables were turned and someone started reporting on the actions of some of these reporters - something tells me they wouldn't like that much!

Tonight is the LLS Man and Woman of the Year event so I have to get off here. I have more opinions on the Ohio State situation - check in in a few days and I'll post more.

GO BUCKS!!!!!!!!

What a blur the month of May was. Between the graduations and the parties and picking Aaron up from St. Louis and the rain and the business planning at work and mowing the lawn every other day and the bike ride training and fundraising - there just was no time to do a blog post since my last entry on May 10. A lot has happened since then, here is a recap...

Abbey graduated from MND last night - we were so proud of her! She was senior class president so she got to do the 'Farewell' speech for the class and did an awesome job. They actually edited some of her comments but she was still able to deliver a very meaningful message while exhibiting her special personality which I think is why she was voted class president in the first place. We had her grad party over the Memorial Day weekend so I think we have all the school activities behind us. It is sad that our high school days are over but we still have two in college so we'll just have to make sure we take advantage of those years while they last. The next stop for Abbey is the University of Dayton - I'm not looking forward to mid-August when we'll be packing her things to move her to college...that will be a difficult weekend for sure.

Judd and Aaron are both home now. Judd is hopefully getting more focused on finding a 'real' job (he is working at the Courseview Restaurant) and Aaron is moving ahead with plans to go to Madrid in August to study abroad. What a wonderful experience for him - here's hoping he's able to work a ton of hours this summer so he has spending money to enjoy the trip.

The rain was really starting to depress me - the grass was growing like wildfire and it was difficult to find time to mow because the ground was so wet. Now that it has been a few days since our last rain, I'm hoping the grass doesn't dry out and go dormant like it did last summer. It's finally starting to fill out and I'd hate for it to go back to how it was at he end of last summer.

The bike training has been going well and we'll be heading to Lake Tahoe on Friday for the big ride on Sunday. I feel ready to go and hope I'll be able to ride around the lake in a time of about 6 and a half hours. The weather should be ideal (as long as it doesn't rain) so we shouldn't have to deal with cramps and dehydration. As far as fundraising goes, I've hit my $10,000 goal and could wind up close to $12,000 when its all said and done. Thanks to all who has helped in this effort - everyone has been very generous. I beleive I mentioned I'll be riding in honor of our 7 year old neighbor, Maya Collins, who has a form of leukemia. Maya has completed one round of chemo and will be doing at least one more before she has a stem cell procedure. She has been a very strong and brave little girl and my thoughts will be with her as I pedal my way around Lake Tahoe on Sunday - I even have a 'Magnificent Maya' band to wear and serve as inspiration. Go Maya Go!!!

I know how you all look forward to my movie reviews. Well I finally had a chance to see 127 Hours so I've now seen all 10 movies nominated for Best Picture in 2010. Here is how I would rank the top 10 along with a brief explanation of the plot of each film...

1. The Fighter - true story of boxer Micky Ward and how he overcame a truly disruptive but supportive family (headlined by his brother, Dicky, brilliantly portrayed by Christian Bale) to become the middleweight champ of the world. One of the top 5 boxing movies ever made.

2. Toy Story 3 - sequels rarely match the quality of the original but Toy Story 3 is definitely an exception. The plot revolves around what's going to happen to Andy's toys now that he's preparing to go to college. I was in our boys' empty bedroom earlier this spring looking around at all the memories - that was what it was like for me to watch Toy Story 3 - very nostalgic and emotional.

3. The Kings Speech - Obviously the Oscar winner. By the time I saw this movie it had won all the major awards so I think I went in to it expecting more. Plus, I had already seen The Fighter and I just didn't like The King's Speech as much. Still, an excellent movie with wonderful performances by Colin Firth, Geoffery Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and Guy Pearce.

4. The Social Network - loose account of the rise of Facebook and the boy genius, Mark Zuckerberg, who wouldn't let anyone get in his way while he was founding it. A time capsule for our current generation.

5. 127 Hours - Another true story about mountain climber, Aron Ralston, and the extreme actions he had to take to survive a catastrophic accident while out exploring by himself. The film has some very difficult scenes to watch and features a tremendous performance by James Franco.

6. True Grit - Remakes rarely match the original either but the Coen brothers pulled it off with this update of the John Wayne classic from 1969. I thought everything about this film was better than the original, including Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn.

7. Inception - Leonardo DiCaprio plays a thief who enters peoples dreams to steal valuable information but by the end of the film you can't tell what is real or a dream. Director Christopher Nolan adds to his already impressive resume of films with Inception.

8. Winter's Bone - Story of a young woman who must find her missing father to save her family's home. Jennifer Lawrence turns in a powerful performance as the young woman who takes on some of the more 'scumbag-like' characters you'll ever see to keep her family together.

9. Black Swan - bizarre thriller about a ballerina who literally becomes her tragic character to pull off the perfect performance. Natalie Portman took home the Academy Award for this film and I'll warn you that this is not a film you want to sit down and watch with your teenagers. You have been warned.

10. The Kids Are Alright - 'Comedy' about a lesbian couple whose world is turned upside down when their teenaged children decide they'd like to find and meet their sperm donor father. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore were very good in the film but i have to admit it was a little uncomfortable to watch this one and Julie thought a couple of the scenes were not necessary.

So that's about all for now. I'll let you all know how things go in Tahoe (hopefully before July!)....thanks for checking in!!!