Eric and the boys were shocked the day we left for our respite to open the front door to several area news outlets, a limo, Marci the founder of FPS, and several of his fellows Officers in the Philadelphia Police Department there to send us off. One of the longer pieces was done by CBS Philadelphia...click for the report. Logan was a hoot when they interviewed him, I think I looked like a dork.
One of the things they ask you to do as part of the respite is to write an entry in the journal at the FPS home in Davenport, FL (yea they bought it for cancer patients and their families...soooo cool). The first day we arrived I read through the journal and read the other entries from Sailors and there families. It was really touching. FPS have touched the lives of so many people. FPS paid for our flight, lodged us in the organizations home (a beautiful 3 bedroom with a heated pool right outside Disney) tickets to Disney/Universal/Sea World, a rental car, and a stipend for food and other expenses. WOW. Anyone who can donate to this group, we would be so thankful. They are good people. I blogged about FPS before here. Please take a moment to read that post, as it will explain FPS even more.
I'm still trying to figure out how to share with you the magic of this experience. I think the best way is to share with you what I wrote in the journal at the home, and to share with you a picture I took right before we watched the sunset into the Gulf of Mexico....
Happy New Year! May this year bring us all good health, amazing memories, and much LOVE. Thanks to FPS, our memories have already become beyond amazing. Since Eric's diagnosis in Oct of 2010 (Stage IV Colon mets to liver), our entire family transformed from "normal dysfunctional" (lol) to "battle mode". The Dial's declared WAR ON CANCER!
Every step of this process was an easy one. Peg and Mariann went out of their way to make this the most amazing respite possible. And Marci even showed up at our house the day we left with a limo and 3 news stations! Imagine my husbands surprise when he opened the door to see over 20 of his fellow Philly Police Officers, along with Marci and the limo driver (as well as the cameras all around). Our boys were in just as much shock as well! Until we boarded the plane, the youngest had no idea where we were headed.
15 months afo my husband was told he had 8 months to live. Yet this week he laughed and smiled as if those words had never been said to him. He was once again the man I fell in love with. Even though he felt sick in the beginning of our trip, he pushed on, determined to enjoy every minute of his break from cancer.
One of the magical parts of this trip was watching Eric reconnect with his 16 year old son. This was something they truly needed. Cancer had really reeked some havoc on relationships. Now I have captured special moments, and they will have memories stored up that will help them get through the tough times ahead. See in November, after 6 months of being in remission after his liver resection, and sending 21 days in the ICU from post surgical infection , Eric was told his cancer was back. Tumors were found in the remaining "healthy" part of his liver. That sad news made this trip mean that much more.
Tomorrow we leave and go back to reality; the kids go to school, I go back to my job as a teacher, and Eric back to being a Philly police officer. And the day after that we go back to cancer, and another CT scan at Sloan-Kettering in NYC. But for 1 glorious trip, cancer did not define us, we DEFIED it!
Much Love,
Eric, Jeaneane, Mark & Logan
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