9-11-01
I miss you Mike. God bless you and hold you always.

The weekend that almost wasnt...

Looking back at it now, I'm glad I ended up going upstate this past weekend but as of Friday, it almost didn't happen. Friday was my birthday and my dad was in real bad shape. Now when I say bad shape, I mean BAD shape. he was not responding to us at all and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head. We took his blood pressure and it was something like 90 over 40 and he looked as if he was slipping into a coma. I called my brother Mark and within a half hour, my whole family was here. We called the nurse and she came by. After checking him out, she began to prepare us for the fact that my dad most likely would not last the weekend. At one point we were all in the kitchen with the nurse and we were all just crying. My mom kept saying how sorry she was that dad was going to die on my birthday as she broke down into uncontrollable crying. Mark was crying and Eileen broke down to my mom. Joe was crying. I was crying. It was something out of a movie... a real tear-jerker. Sherry and I were supposed to leave at 9 P.M but as of 8, I was unsure if I was going to go. Everyone was telling me to just go... that there was nothing I could really do but if dad was going to leave us, I wanted to be here to say goodbye. I did end up going and as I was leaving, I went to say good bye to dad fearing that it was going to be the last time I say him. He looked at me and mouthed the words "be careful and have a good time". Mom told me that if anything happened, she would not tell me until I was home because she didn't want me to drive home like that so now I didn't trust her when I did call her to see if everything was OK. When I did call, she sounded strange and I didn't think she was telling me the truth when I asked how dad was doing. She put him on the phone and he sounded better. From that point on, I felt so much better and my weekend began.

Sherry and I spent the weekend relaxing and just trying not to think of all the bad stuff we are going through. It worked. We had a great time and did allot of smiling. Saturday night, we had dinner with her parents friends and came back to the trailer where 30 or so of them came by for coffee. I lit a camp fire with some help from them and we all sat around it having a great time. Then as my back was turned, Sherry surprised me with a birthday cake and all of them sang happy birthday to me. I was in shock! I didn't even see it coming. I have to say that the people up there are some of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and if any of them are reading this, I want to say thank you again.

Sunday we cleaned up, got some breakfast and headed home. We got here around 6 and all was quiet... or so it seemed. I wanted to see my dad so I put my stuff down and with Sherry right behind me, I opened his door to see it packed with my family and friends yelling "SURPRISE!!!" Again, I was in total shock. My father wanted to be part of it so he had everyone pack into his room. There had to be 25 people in there. I slowly made my way through the crowd over to my dad and I took his hand. He started to cay and I got all chocked up. I told him that he had me so scared of Friday and he said I know... me too. I gave him a huge kiss and he just held my hand. As it turns out, he ate something like 7 rice balls, eggs, and a huge piece of cake! He looks great and is doing 1000 times better than he was on Friday. I don't know how Sherry pulled off keeping 2 secrets from me because I can always read her but she did it.

I know we always prey for miracles. The truth is that I have had my miracle since the day I was born. I have had the best mother a person could ever ask for who would do and has done everything she could to make life special. I have Sherry who continues to bless me with her strength and devotion every day. I have brothers who, regardless of the fact that they are not always around, love us and provide great strength and support. I have friends who will always be here for me. And I have one more mirical...

I have a Father who has been an unbelievable roll model from day one. If I could become half the man my father is, I will consider myself a success in life. With his thundering velvet hand, he has gently guided me on the right path and with few words, he has shown me the meaning of what it takes to be a man. My aunt gave me a card and in it she wrote that she hopes I get my miracle. I look at mt dad and I realize that I have had it all along. His blood runs through my veins and his song was, is, and forever will be in my soul.

God bless you all, and may god continue to bless and smile upon my family.