Our Turn

Bobby and I took my brother, Tommy, into Dana Farber today for his radiation and chemo. It has been a day I have been looking forward to in a weird way. He has had 4 other chemo days and has been going to radiation 5 days a week since after Thanksgiving. I have been working on those days so other family members have taken him. Today was our day! 

We passed Fenway Park on our way in to the city.

Radiation was pretty quick so we waited in the cafeteria for over an hour. Tommy cannot taste anything and has sores in his mouth and throat, both things making it very difficult to eat or want to eat. His go to is tapioca pudding and apple juice.

We took a walk through the healing garden. It was very peaceful and made me feel better. Tommy's left cheek is swollen and red from the radiation which is making it hard to talk and smile.

We got to meet his adorable Dr (when did Drs get so young?). He has a house on the Cape, so of course we bribed him with lobster and clams. Dr was pleased with the progress and sent us on to chemo.

There is something to be said for seeing your brother hooked up to different drugs, one being called "poison" and acting like it is natural and normal. I did what I could, but mostly we just hung out, amused him with a few stories and one of us had a nap.

People often call people fighting cancer brave. Tommy is brave, but the things that impressed me the most was his kindness. He was polite to everyone. He engaged in conversations about Christmas with his nurses. He offered a woman his chair. He asked his Doctor to come out to the waiting room to meet us. He thanked everyone. He is awesome. I am more than impressed and proud of his integrity.

When you are in a hospital all day, you forget about time and the outside world. I happened to take a trip to the bathroom at sunset. It was beautiful and gave me hope.

When we went to the valet to get the car, the 3 of us were waiting in a circle (triangle). I looked down and in the middle of us on the floor was a shiny penny. I know that that was a sign from our friend MJ who died when he was 16 and we were in our late teens/twenties. We will take all the signs and prayers we can get to cure Tommy of this sucky disease.

PMC or My Brother Rocks

My brother is my hero because he overcame cancer (11 years ago!) and helps others with cancer by riding his bike every year. This year he rode in his 8th Pan Mass Challenge which is a 2 day bike ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown (192 miles). The PMC raises money for cancer research. Before he rode the PMC, he rode the Lance Armstrong ride in Austin, Texas. That was 100 miles in one day. The second year, my mom, dad, sister and I all went to cheer him on. It was a most amazing trip. Here we are at a rest stop with him. (Sally's umbrella was to protect her from that hot Texas sun).

Tommy rides for a team called Team Lick Cancer. Here is a smattering of their t-shirt designs worn by his biggest fans.

Here we are the other day cheering him on at the Nickerson State Park rest stop. Doesn't it kill you that he doesn't even look winded and this was 1/2 way through day 2?!

One of the benefits I get from him riding his bike on this great team is that he rides with a bunch of people who we both went to high school with! Celebrating at the finish in Provincetown on Sunday, I got to have a mini reunion with 3 handsome classmates. Rich, this is a shout out to you because you actually asked if I was going to write about you and this! I love when people tell me they read what I write.  :)

One of these years I hope to ride the PMC with him, but right now I am happy being his biggest cheerleader!!

Once Upon a Time Wednesday

Once upon a time Wednesday is about things from the past. There are many stories in my head that I want to share with my girls. The trip to Ellis Island, thank you very much Liberty Mutual, this summer made me realize that I had to get these stories documented. History is extremely important and fun!  Play along if you want!

Once upon a time..... my brother, Tommy, was born. He was born as the 3rd in the family and the only son. I am 6 years older than him and my sister, a year and half. Naturally my sister and he had a lot in common and similar friends, but Tommy and I actually got/get along quite well.

Tommy was a chubby baby and kept his baby belly until he was about 10. I totally remember him losing his belly and turning into more of an adolescent/man. It was weird. Of course I was about 16, so what wasn't weird.

He is getting married on Saturday. It is sort of odd, different, interesting thinking that my baby brother will be married. I mean he is totally old enough (and some would say, "what took you so long"), but he is still 18 in my eyes.

He has asked the guests at his rehearsal dinner to put their two cents in and tell a story about he or Jenn or some marriage advice. Of course in the schedule of the evening, he has only allowed an hour for eating and story telling. I am wondering if he thinks if he only plans an hour for this, he will get off easily. Knowing 1/2 the crowd that is going (extremely well) he will not be adhering to his schedule. Our side of the family likes to talk and make fun of and expound on things. He could be in for a long night. I could tell you what I have in mind, but in the odd chance that he reads my blog before then (or ever?), I can't risk it. Instead I will tell you what I am not saying, because being all serious and gushy in public (especially when I get a chance to "roast" him) is really not me.

Tommy, On this eve of your wedding to Jenn, I want to tell you how proud I am of you and that I am impressed with the man you have become. Technically in my eyes, you will never be a "man", but I am willing to concede to boy/man. It's easy to see you still as a boy because you like your trucks, your lawn tools, making things in yards now (where once it was the beach) and your love of adventure. I can still picture you playing fetch in the backyard with Todd. I am sorry that I was too old to keep an eye on you in HS. I am so happy that you got to go to Waterville Academy and ski all winter instead of being in regular HS (although at the time, I was a little jealous).  I miss that we don't live closer and I hope when you have a passel of kids, you come visit often. (I love little kids that you can hand back to their parents). Plus you will have built in babysitter cousins for the little nuggets.

Jenn is a lucky girl to have you as her husband. Just remember to tell her often what she means to you. Remember to do your own thing, but to reconnect at the end of the day and be proud of each other. And remember that it is important every once and awhile to feel as good as that day you were wearing your Vaurnet shirt, your cool shorts with the white side stripe, your tube socks and you were the cat's ass (haha, pun intended) as the head of the school (6th grade).

Love you millions xoxo

Married? Sheesh!

I am pretty sure Jake's reaction is akin to my brother, Tommy's, friends when they got the news yesterday that he is getting married. Some of his friends have been married long enough to hold him in high regard for being in his late 30's and having "held off". That all changed on Mother's Day when he proposed to the gf.

We are all very excited about the upcoming wedding. They are throwing around places, ideas, etc already.

My question to you is, if you could have a destination wedding, where would you go? It can be in this country or not. Let's hear some ideas, so I can have some control over when and where the wedding will be!

*Edited due to my mom's negative reaction.

Looky Who's on my Dashboard!

Yes, this is on my car dashboard at the moment.

And yes, that is a vintage 1980 something Michael Jackson doll.

Complete with silver sequined glove and socks.

My girls found it in the basement this weekend. I don't think they believed me when I told them I had one. Haha!

For many years, my brother would give out "action figure" type dolls for Christmas. I am not sure how this started, but he was giddy every Christmas time when pe0ple opened up his gift. Some other beauties were Mr. T, Donald Trump, and Mr. Incredible. I think the stupid economy got in the way eventually, because no one has been blessed with one in awhile.

I will know that the economy has hit rock bottom when my mom does not give him Legos every Christmas.

For now, Michael and I will be singing Thriller around town.

Yeah, He's My Brother

My brother, Tommy (ok, he's now known as Tom), surprised my mom for Mother's Day by coming to the Cape. He decided that he didn't have any pictures of us (me and him), so we shot a few. And as I was thinking about posting the pictures, I thought you might like a funny story about him.

Tommy is the youngest (golden boy). I am 6 years older than him and my sister is a year and 1/2 older than him. We lived about 3 miles from the elementary school and my parents would let him ride his bike. He must have been in the 6th grade. Well, after much convincing, our neighbor Becky was allowed to ride her bike with him one sunny morning. My mom got the call from the nurses office that Tommy was ok, but needed a new outfit. My mom and I were going somewhere that day (seniors got out of school early) so we took our time and got ready to go before we dropped off Tommy some clothes. The secretary called and said, "Are you coming soon?" So my mom went upstairs to get T an outfit. As he tells the story, he was wearing a cool pair of shorts and his long sleeve Vaurnet tshirt that day and looked very hip. He will tell you that my mom went into the depths of his drawers for the geekiest, smallest pair of shorts and a "braggin dragon" (Sears brand of alligator) polo.

My mom gets to school and is horrified because Tommy is covered in scrapes. He describes what happened...' we were riding safely on the sidewalk when out of nowhere a cat runs in front of my bike and I flip'. They were 1/2 way to school and T had promised Mrs. Lucas that he would get Becky to school, so they continued on instead of coming home. May have had something to do with Tommy's penchance for perfect attendance (geek).

So since that fateful day, Tommy's nickname is Scab. Thankfully he has a good sense of humor because we LOVE telling this story to anyone that doesn't know it.

Love you Tommy!