Light the Night...

this weekend was very busy...it all started on friday with the wisin y yandel concert which my niece bianca flew up from florida to see with me and my bff, judy...we met tom for dinner first and then went to the concert...the concert was amazing...it felt as if MSG was a big nightclub..i have been to many concerts but this definitely caps them all, even a marc anthony concert....

saturday was a big day...finally after many months of fundraising and begging people to give to a great cause the Light the Night Walk had arrived...all week the weather reports stated there would be rain off and on, maybe even heavy showers...well it turned out to be a great night otherwise, muggy but no rain...Team Gaffney had a tent and it seemed as if we came in 4th place for fundraising...as of today Team Gaffney raised $10,325 (there were a few last minutes donations given in on that day so this total will probably increase in the next day or so), much more than our original goal of $5,000 a few months ago...our friends and family really demonstrated not only how much we meant to them but how important this cause is in our lives...hopefully, we will be able to do the same every year, even if not with the same amount as this year...hopefully our story touched people's hearts to continue to donate on a yearly basis to such a great cause as well as other causes...

when tom and i first started dating we tried to raise money for the AIDS WALK in NYC for a few years, but we really didnt have a connection, we did it because we felt it was a great cause with a great purpose...now that we have found Light the Night we have something that really has a purpose and meaning in our lives that goes beyond doing a good deed and raising funds...the money we raised helps families like ours to get proper information, proper medication and countless other things (whether big or small) to find a cure for blood cancers...

it was an emotional day overall....when i saw everyone in our team wearing their t-shirts and getting the designated color balloon..wow...who would have thought i would be doing this a year ago...who would have thought i would be team captain and along with tom raise so much money..i am still awe-stricken...there was a remembrance ceremony in which bianca and i took a flower up to a bouquet at the center of the stage in memory of our Tia Nivia who passed away 5 years ago of myeloma...we also carried a gold balloon in her honor as well as for my neighbors father who died a little over a week ago of lymphoma as well as my friend tammi's aunt...that night i was also thinking of my buddha man...i am sure he was shining down looking at us, maybe even having his favorite blue bunny ice cream...

the next ceremony held was for the survivors...they called all of our names up to the podium and we will had on blue t-shirts with the label "SURVIVOR" in the back of the t-shirt...what a strong word and i wore it proudly because I AM A SURVIVOR! God has bigger plans for me, this i am sure of....it was great seeing the other survivors around me and meeting tom eye to eye and both of us with watery eyes not saying a word but saying a thousand things at the same time...i just wanted to embrace every one of the survivors and tell them how much God has blessed us all of us...

the walked kicked off and the see of lit balloons was amazing...it was great to see my dad so happy and enjoying the walk...to think of what he has been through with me this past year and take this walk with me gave me the best feeling of triumph because not only was a fighting for myself, i was fighting for tom, tj, my parents and the rest of my family..as a side note, i was very happy to see that karen (dr grossman's) nurse joined us along with her husband, william and their beautiful daughter jennifer and stuffed animal peppermint fox...again what great friends i have made through this ordeal..karen mentioned dr grossman wanted to join us but the time of the walk would interfere with his son's sleeping schedule and dealing with a cranky toddler would not be the best thing to do...nonetheless, i know he was there with me in spirit...but my jaw would have dropped to the floor if he would have shown up...my neighbors also came along with their kids, as well as our great friends ira and chris whom i had not seen since i was bald back in january or february...i love those guys...they are always there for support, prayers and encouraging words..rocio, a childhood friend (rocio)was there too, but i did miss her parents...i missed others as well but i know they were all thinking of us and were there with us in spirit...

i know the walk is over, but my brain is already working to try and see what i can do to make our communities more aware of not only leukemia/lymphoma and other types of blood disorders, but just other types of cancers as well...did you know that september was the leukemia/lymphoma month..i did not find out until almost the end of september...right now, the big cancer that is mainly being addressed is breast cancer because of recent high rates of detection, but what about the other types of cancers that are minimally talked about...did anyone know about anal cancer before farah fawcett came out? what about pancreatic cancer? ovarian cancer? cervical cancer and the that having the HPV virus can lead to cervical cancer? prostate cancer?..the list goes on and on...let's try and make our (your) cancer aware to those who do not have the resources to know or learn about it...let's face cancer head on and do something to find cures, medical research and just plain knowledge...do not let the cancer conquer you...let you conquer cancer...ok..enough venting...

today, tom and i celebrated our 7th year anniversary...last year the girls at 5300 created a sign and they all signed it...this year i stayed home with tj all day by myself and we went grocery shopping, did some laundry, played some games and cooked a nice dinner for the three of us...it felt good....tomorrow will be the same thing but with my weekly dr grossman check up...

lele comes in on friday...cannot wait to see her...and then on monday tj, lele and i leave to florida....i will miss tom terribly but cannot wait to be away...i am looking forward to seeing the mick as well as seeing tj seeing him as well...we are going to stay a few days at disney thanks to a friend of bianca's that works at one of the resorts...tj will have a ball...i will miss tom terribly, but will take lots of videos and upload every night(or even more often than that)...

well kiddies, i think i have written a bit much as well as vented a lot more...will try and post tomorrow after seeing dr grossman...good night and God bless....