All I Want for Christmas is a Cure

     Well it has been an entire month since I last blogged.  I have to admit that it actually made me consider stopping because obviously time is an issue but then I thought, give up so easy??? Not like me.  I reflected on why I started the blog in the first place which was to record memories so that one day my daughter would have a place to gain a little insight into her mom.  So lesson to be learned here Melanie, sometimes life gets busy, really busy, but that doesn't mean you ever forget what is important to you.  You are important to me, more than you can imagine, and I want you to have these memories forever.
     I have to say that since Thanksgiving life has been crazy.  Getting ready for Christmas is always insane, I know, but this year has been extra difficult.  While I have been busy trying to get ready for a Christmas that will please my SOOOOO over excited three year old I have gotten multitudes of tragic news that makes you kinda just want to crawl up in a ball and cry.  This leads me to the title of my blog.  All I really want this Christmas is a cure...... to cancer!  Today I will share with you the stories of three amazing men facing this horrific disease. 
     The first is a man that I have known for many years.  We met back in middle school in our little home town of Sierra Vista.  I was a bit of a social nerd back in school.  I LOVED to socialize but I also had to get straight A's and be in honors.  My friend was very much the same way.  He was/is smart so it wasn't unusual for us to be in honors classes together and maybe even crack a book now and then to study.  He was also very social.  He played sports, hung out and had a good time, and in many ways was a typical teenage boy.  We both went to the same high school and college (GO WILDCATS by the way) and remained friends throughout the years.  After college we stayed in touch as we got jobs, got married and started our adult lives.  We attended each other's weddings, exchanged pictures of the kids, supported each other through losing a parent, etc. Some years we stayed in touch more than others.  We were both living what many would consider to be the American dream.  But the last couple years of his life have not been a dream they have been a battle.  I should stop here and give you some more facts about him.  He is a very smart accountant living in the Phoenix area.  He is married to an amazing woman that I also went to high school with.  He has four beautiful little girls.  He loves his family.  He loves the Lord. He loves life.  I think many of these things are what makes it all even harder for me to digest.  And if it is hard for me, I can't imagine how hard it is for him and his family.  A while ago he suffered from throat cancer but was treated and he thought cured.  It wasn't long after though that they found cancer in his pelvic bone, liver, and lungs.  He has gone through treatment after treatment after treatment.  His body has literally been destroyed by all the treatments. But his spirit has remained completely in tact.  He has recently been told he has one year left to live.  When I heard this my heart sank.  One year.  How do you even process this?  Well, he processed it by saying he doesn't believe it.  He is still fighting, still looking for more treatments and procedures that will increase the quality and quantity of his life.  He believes this is possible through Jesus Christ.  So if you are reading this, please take a moment to pray for him, pray for his amazing attitude with which he faces this.  Pray for his courageous wife who has been by him every step of the way and cares for him with amazing love and patience.  Pray for his girls who are probably scared and confused by all they have seen and are facing and who just want someone to make their daddy better.  Pray for a cure.  My dear friend, you are an amazing role model for all who are fighting this terrible disease.  You inspire me to never take anything for granted.  I love you and know that we pray for you daily up here in Reno and look forward to seeing you soon.

The second man is a man that I have known for 20 years and has really changed my life.  I think he changes a lot of lives but you would never hear him say that because he gives all the credit to the Lord, but I would have to disagree and say it is a joint effort.  As some of you know after high school I decided not to leave my hometown for several reasons, some to do with family, some with finances, and there was a part  of me just not ready to leave the safety and security of all that I knew.  It was clearly God's plan that I remain in Sierra Vista and I thank Him today for the path He took me down.  I went to college in Sierra Vista and Tucson taking my education classes at the Uof A main and outlet campus in Sierra Vista.  While going to college I worked at a wonderful little church.  I still remember the day I interviewed with the pastor's wife for nursery director.  I got the job and showed up for the first Sunday for work to find 40 people in this little building.  I cared for five children while their parents worshipped.  Within a few months the church had grown and the number of kids I watched had multiplied and I had become the pastor's nanny.  It has been by far one of the best jobs I have ever had.  This pastor (and his family) were/are amazing.  They truly live their lives following the Lord.  They taught me that church was so much more than just a place that you go to to hear someone quote the bible and say a prayer.  They taught me that going to church is a place that you meet to celebrate with other people who have a relationship with the Lord and that relationship is so much more than a building or a book or one day of the week.  When this pastor preaches he doesn't just quote the bible, he speaks from the heart and he relates it in such a way that you can connect it to your life and make true meaning of God's word.  It was my privilege then to be a part of the church that he led for the Lord and to care for his children who have grown into these amazing young women.  While I no longer get to hear his weekly sermons it is still my privilege to call him my friend.  He is always there to share the joys and sorrows of life with and I so enjoy reading his newsletters, blogs, and scripture posts.  They are always so meaningful and relative and always leave you thinking and praying. As I hope you have gathered this man preaches the word of God like no other and just recently has been diagnosed with Stage 3 neck and tongue cancer.  He will be having surgery on December 30th to remove the tumor and repair the tongue but it looks like it could be at least a year before he will be able to speak again.  The doctors of course will go from there as to future treatments but even just that much was devastating news.  My heart literally hurt when I got the news for I know how much concern this causes a family and I know how much he loves to speak the Lord's word.  Now of course he will find other ways, you could never stop him, but he is still in for the battle of his life.  Please pray for him and his upcoming surgery.  He needs the Lord to be at work in that operating room as those doctors remove the cancer and rebuild his tongue.  Pray that the cancer has not and does not spread.  Pray for his amazing wife who is one of the most remarkable women I know and has been a true role model for me in being a woman of God, a wife, and a mother.  Pray for his girls who have such beautiful spirits and love their daddy with all their hearts.  Pray for the church that he leads as they help to see him through this and embrace pastors and speakers who will continue to share the word of the Lord.  Pray for a cure.  Dear friend and pastor, thank you for making a difference in my life and for sharing the Lord with such truth and love over the years.  You are loved and prayers are constantly coming your way.

My final story is about my dad.  While this will certainly not be my only blog about my dad, I simply could not leave him out today.  For those who do not know my dad, he is smart, funny, generous, dedicated and loves his family more than anything.  He was a wonderful provider as we grew up, always sacrificing so that we had everything we needed, plus a little shopping money left for mom. :)  He was strict but it was a strictness that came from love.  He knew the investment he made into raising us correctly would pay off in the future.  He was right.  Nothing brings my dad more joy than reflecting on how he has raised two strong, independent, loving daughters who could take on the world if they had to.  He is also so gentle and loving.  Five minutes of watching him with Melanie and your heart melts at the pure love and joy they bring to each other.  My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer in April after being hospitalized with pneumonia.  We were told he had Stage 3b and that if he did nothing he would have about six months to live and if he went through treatment it would extend his time to at least two years. So he decided to fight.  He joined a cancer trial and began receiving chemo and radiation.  It has been a VERY difficult eight months of treatment and a couple weeks ago dad has decided to stop treatments.  Chemotherapy is all they could offer us in the way of treatments which simply leaves his body so deprived that his bones cannot make the platelets and hemoglobin necessary to keep him functioning and he ends up hospitalized.  It is a routine he is tired of going through so he has decided to focus on just allowing his body to detox from all of the chemo and hopefully heal some so that he can have some time without fatigue, weakness, and unable to eat due to what the chemo has done to his taste.  He hopes he will feel good enough to eat at his favorite restaurants, vacation in Oregon with my sister, and take Melanie horse back riding sometime soon.  Such simple things we would take for granted but big dreams for him right now.  My prayers for him, well it depends, I guess I believe in praying and dreaming big, so here goes; pray that when we get the tumor measured again next month that it has shrunk.  While I know that seems impossible since he has stopped treatments but realistically on the scans it can be tough to tell the tumor from the dead tissue that surrounds it left by the radiation so I am hoping the treatments he got a while ago have actually shrunk it more than we realize and that the dead tissue will be absorbed by now and show shrinkage, it would give him hope.  Pray that he feels better quickly so that he can start enjoying his life again.  He moved to Reno to be a big part of Melanie growing up and we are all ready for him to be an active part in that again.  Pray for his relationship with the Lord.  The whole "God thing" as he would put it has always been a tough thing for him.  Faith isn't something that always makes sense in his very logical, scientific mind, but this whole process has him thinking so I pray that he finds a relationship with the Lord.  Pray for enough time to make some more memories with Melanie.  That's a selfish one for me.  It breaks my heart that Mel will not know her grandma (my mom) until she reaches heaven and it breaks my heart that she may have limited memories of her grandpa.  Pray that my sister and I find the strength to deal with whatever comes.  We love our daddy and don't want to lose him.  Pray for a cure.  I love you dad, more than words can express.  Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for me.  Every day with you is a blessing.

Dad, Tina, and I back in Georgia

Dad, Tina, and I at Tina's wedding

There is nothing better than dancing with your daddy at your wedding.

Melanie "shopping" with dad for Christmas

May you experience the joy and magic of Christmas as a child does.

May all your wishes this Christmas come true.  Hold tight to those you love, take the time to say I love you, and make memories that last a lifetime!