A New Year

The New Year is always a time of reflection for me. In 2014 I experienced some of my darkest times, but I also experienced immeasurable love and joy. 2015 has had a wonderful start. We were able to spend Christmas and New Years in Florida. A year ago, my father reserved a condo at the beach. I was praying everything would work out and I would be healthy enough to go on the trip.

All of us had a great time. Janie, Katie, Anabel and I were able to spend a day at Disney World and we had an awesome time. Disney has never been a big thing to me, but now with kids it’s so much fun. I love seeing the excitement on their faces that comes with Disney. Katie and Janie were rock stars and stayed there till midnight. Anabel went on her first ride, a baby roller coaster, and cried once her mom screamed on a turn. This trip was what we all needed to celebrate my last scan. The past year had taken a toll on all of us.

In an earlier blog, I wrote about how this upcoming summer will be better than the last. One of the main reasons is because we have some once-in-a-lifetime travel plans. My mother-in-law, is retired from the airline industry, gave us her companion ticket passes for 2015 (Thank you Tia Mali and Tio Roj). When Janie and I found out, we started discussing places where we would like to travel.  At first we discussed going to places with beautiful beaches and Hawaii quickly jumped to mind. Wouldn’t it be perfect, especially since it’s been so cold lately? We had our Hawaii travel books and I was contacting some friends in Hawaii about things to do. But then we both slowed down our thoughts and realized we needed to do a spiritual retreat first because of our many blessings over the past year. So we are off to Croatia in February. Yes, Croatia in February. The weather will be a little different than Hawaii. I’m going to a little farming village called Medjugorje where the Virgin Mary has been appearing everyday since 1981. Many people have experienced beautiful graces and miracles while visiting. This will be a spiritual retreat filled with lots of prayer and meditation, which will lead me to feeling closer to God.

We have many travel plans this year besides Medjugorje. So if you want to hangout, no matter where you live, let me know because this is the year for me to travel and see you. Janie and I are going to be traveling the world like Jay-Z and Beyonce this year (minus the good looks, wealth, fame, and pretty much everything else).

Today marks the second anniversary of my diagnosis, but it feels like a lifetime because of how cancer has impacted every facet of my life. During this time I believe I’ve grown as a husband, father, son, brother, and friend. For that I’m very thankful and I’m thankful because I know I’ll continue to grow. These two years have been trying, to say the least, and even though I thought this would be behind me by now, I realize that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. Even though sometimes I still struggle with accepting my situation, I know I’m on the right path. I’m very thankful for all of the love and support my family and I have received over the past two years.  I’m grateful for reconnecting with old friends, making new friends, and the ones who’ve been there each step of the way.

I have some more friends in need of prayers and positive vibes. My friend Sara has a young family and her cancer has been restaged. Also pray for Deborah whose colon cancer has returned. As well as for Josh, who’s 28 has colon cancer and is expecting his first child next month and Eddie who has colon cancer and a young family. Please hold all of them and their families close to your heart.

Janie and I after a long, beautiful, relaxing day at the beach.

Katie, Dumbo, and I

Katie and Anabel

Girls playing on the beach