Anniversary Post: 35 Years, 918 Days…and Counting
Anniversary Post: 35 Years, 918 Days…and Counting
A Brain Cancer Diagnosis Can Be a Catalyst to Celebrate Life
When a family learns that a member has been diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, the first reaction is inevitably one of despair. Internet search engines return depressing statistics regarding the average duration and quality of life. There are a lot of tears and quite a few sleepless nights. You realize that any future plans that have been made are now suddenly and irreversibly altered.
But like every day, the sun will rise again tomorrow.
Each family has a relatively simple choice to make: You can dwell on the terrible news and let it consume you -OR- you can get on with the business of living. We choose to live the #BonusTime.
Today marks the twin milestones of our 35th wedding anniversary and 918 days (30 months) since Julie was diagnosed with GBM.
To commemorate the occasion, we decided to post a few photos taken over the years from our first meeting at MIT in the 1980s (Oh, the #BigHair!); through the early days of starting careers and a family; up through graduations, family events and some silliness; and finally, to very recent photos taken over the past 30 months after Julie’s diagnosis. If a single picture is worth a thousand words, then the following collection speaks volumes.
As the children grow, every parent knows that there is a narrow window in which they can still be considered only slightly uncool before the kids are consumed by the Teenager Vortex. I was bestowed the title of “Coolest Dad Ever” for 15 minutes by virtue of winning the Boston Celtics Dance Contest…in front of the family…and a couple hundred of our Biotech company employees in attendance at the Garden. Completely Punked! by good friends in the Boston Biotech community that night.
The first year after Julie’s diagnosis brought about many enormous changes as we had to establish our personal rhythm in order to navigate the Journey. Despite busy young adult lives lived in locations far away from our home, the children make time to visit with Mom as often as possible.
The Holidays are always a highlight of the year, and in 2023 they served as a backdrop for an hilarious neighborhood “Ugly Holiday Sweater + Formal Attire” dinner party (Oh, the food, wines and gag gifts!) plus the engagement of son Alex to fiancee Katy.
The past 30 months have allowed many great memories to be made. We highly recommend that each MissionGBM family find a way to capture the moments that are important to them. For us, Julie wanted to record herself reading the children’s favorite Holiday board books by the fire as a way of preserving both her voice and the good memories of our family.
