Is it really November? I can’t believe it has almost been a year. Things are really rough on me and I have been dreading this month for quite some time. Naturally, the end of the month marks the one year anniversary of Julie’s passing which is difficult to handle as you might expect. However, what makes it even more difficult is that the 15th of the month would have been our 11th anniversary.

I can remember our first anniversary as that is the first milestone of any marriage. We were talking about our life ahead together and what our life would be like at the next milestone… 10 years. We talked about how big our family would be, where we would be in our careers… we even talked about where we would go to celebrate it.

Thanks to Guillermo and Christina and a host of friends we were able to celebrate this milestone in Rome (In Aiugust) where we walked all over the city in a mad 48 dash to see all of the sites. We stayed at a beautiful Hotel (Michaelangelo) just outside of Vatican City where if we stuck our head out of the window we had a view of St. Peter’s basilica. We even had a wonderful dinner at Alfredo’s where the Alfredo sauce was first created.

It was a wonderful treat because as life went forward Julie’s health started to decline once we returned home. We celebrated our actual 10th anniversary by stopping for a quick lunch at Pappadeaux’s restaurant (a nice creole seafood restaurant) before heading off to MD Anderson for another oncology appointment. By this time Julie was in a wheelchair and very frail. Since I was with her every hour of everyday at this point I never noticed how sick she actually was. I just saw her as my wife with a giant heart who was fighting this monster like Rocky Balboa.

I never thought I would lose her 11 short days later. As a testament to her fight, she took Chemo Thanksgiving morning, ate a full Thanksgiving meal before she finally succumbed to the cancer that evening after laying in bed as she repeatedly told me “I Love You”. She knew it was time…

Julie, its almost been a year and I miss you SO much. I think about all we had together, our little jokes that only a couple can share etc… The pain is so fresh, but I still know you are there.

A story I have not shared with the blog people… Both Hallie and Jackson are playing soccer this fall. Hallie’s season started a few weeks before Jacks so she got her uniform first. As they were passing out the uniforms they threw Hallie hers and when she opened it up she had the number 3.. Julie’s sign to us that she is with us. Hallie’s lit up like a Christmas tree. Fast forward a couple weeks later, Jack got his uniform and the coach held up a shirt, said “this looks like it’ll fit ya” and threw it to him. That’s right, Jack has the number 3 as well…. and I promise we did not make the request… Julie is here.

By the way… Tomorrow is the BTHO fundraiser. If you are in the Houston area and don’t already have plans, come on out. We would love to see you. Follow the link on the right for more information and directions (Landolt Park in Clear Lake).

Yay God!

Brendan

Once again it has been awhile since I posted. Life is busy.

I did not do the LiveStrong Challenge as a day or two after I posted it, I realized that once again I had in fact overbooked myself. Several weeks earlier Brad had asked me if I would be interested in going to an LSU football game against Georgia in Baton Rouge before basketball season started. Brad has a cousin who is a student there so we had a built in host and I had always wanted to see a football game there as I heard it is an experience like no other, so I said I am in! Tiger Stadium consistently hits the Top Ten College Football Stadiums in the country.

Our friend JFLO decided to join us and we headed out Friday night. It is now Sunday and we are headed back home (I am posting this from the car actually). Needless to say we did it up pretty big and we are a little worse for the wear at present!

Below are a few pictures from my experience.

Now I am not a huge LSU fan, but we were sitting in the Student section and since I am not a Georgia fan their was no point in going against the grain. I owned the yellow shirt ahead of time, I bought the hat as a souvenir from the stadium and I “borrowed” the tie from the frat boy who was sitting next to us! I think I did an OK job of looking the part!

The three of us were talking and I think we are going to try and hit one of the stadiums on the list each year and make a guys trip out of it each fall. If so, I see my hat collection growing.

As far as the LiveStrong Challenge goes, it probably turned out for the best anyone as I would have had to rush to pull the gear together. I am DEFINITELY doing one next year and actually considering doing the one in Portland, OR just to do something different. I received a lot of feedback with people who know people who are into cycling and can recommend the right gear for me and maybe get me in touch with some bike shops who might be willing to sponsor my effort in part. Look for more to come on that in the coming months.

Lastly, the BTHO Melanoma event is coming up on Sunday, November 9. Bring yourself, bring your kids and bring some $$$ for the raffle, silent auction, donataions, etc… All the money goes to worthy Melanoma causes. I hope to see many people there as Angie has done a truly remarkable job pulling it all together (thanks Ang. this means more to me and someday my kids than you will ever know.)

Yay God!

Brendan

Livestrong Challenge

Well with the storm damage from Ike as well as a myriad of other things going on this event snuck up on me. As it turns out I am actually available to participate in this particular event on this weekend… nothing really going on. But, I have done zero in the way of preparation.

If you recall, we (Julie, I and a numerous friends) had planned all year on attending and taking part in this event to help raise money and awareness. As you recall, this time of year is where Julie started to really take a turn for the worse and was actually in a wheelchair so we did not make it.

I would like to take part this year in her memory…. I am in fairly decent shape as I have been working out quite regulary and feel as though I could do the 65 mile ride (physically). However, here is my problem and I need my readership out there to help me decide if I am biting off more than I can chew and wait until next year, or with the help of all of you out there can WE pull this off this year? Please provide your thoughts and feedback.

Key things to consider…

• I need to raise a minimum of $300 dollars (no problem as I can pay this out of my own pocket)
• Julie and I did the MS 150 one year (as she talked me into it). We did it with all of the wrong gear and I swore if I ever took something on like this again I would have the proper equipment. … So In my broad network of “ant”/ readers out there does anyone know of:
  1. A cycle shop (or buisness/ businesses) that may be interested in sponsoring my effort (even if only partial)
  2. I need to procure a suitable road bike (does anyone have one I can borrow for this event or maybe the cycle shop could loan me one). I road the MS 150 on a mountain bike and paid the price for several weeks to come.
  3. Gear I need… Helmet, shoes padded cycle shorts, hydration equipment in the form of water bottles or camelback etc… other stuff that I am not thinking of??? (I have some equipment but not all)

I really want to do this but don’t know if it is just to late to pull it together. The thought of being on the road, with just myself and the thoughts of Julie and her battle as I pull myself up and down the hills of the central Texas hill country holds a lot of appeal. However, I am looking for honest feedback as to whether or not I should try for it or wait until an event next year when I have more time to plan and pull the needed resources together.

Please help me make a quick decision….

Yay God!

Brendan