Happy Holidays!

It is a blessed day for us to be celebrating these holidays! We actually took some professional photos this year and I wanted to share a couple during this story. 2023 was far from being uneventful. We started January with a nasty bout of Pneumonia, where we did not know how it would end. The middle of the year was a turn for the better with more energy. This month has already seen Bella, our newest grand child, turn 1 years old.

We managed to have a good number of travel trips. Finishing off December with a few more days on the road.

Christmas Eve

We started off Christmas Eve with a morning at MD Anderson. Michele took the last of chemos for 2023 a couple of weeks ago. We added one of the pills that had been dropped off back into the mix. So today is bloodwork and readings.

I see our journey at a mid-point. There are others here today for the first time and others that may be at the end of treatments. What I have noticed at MDA is that the daily rhythm never stops.

Reflection on the year

When Cancer hit we were in full motion with life. Working hard and trying to expand in a post pandemic world. The first few months were some of the hardest to digest with large uncertainties. My personal outlook shifted in a number of areas. I am believer in people and in doing good for others. This belief has been tested in both mentioned and unmentioned challenges. 

January 2023 set me more to my knees to be patient and loving. Traveling for business followed by an extended hospital stay for Michele that also saw another friend in the hospital will do that. January was the second time where I had to stop and ask if this was going to be a shorter life than anticipated.

Fortunately… we over came that moment.

Mid-March or April we learned why her maintenance cycles were so tough. Turning another corner. As she got better, we started renewing our energy in life.

We have enjoyed getting out more and being with friends. Each journey brought joy and yet each round there is more reminders of how fragile our life an situation can be. I know our adventures are less bike riding and skiing down hills and more golf carts and riding in cars.

We have learned to enjoy less “people-y” places and how much a coffee or cocktail and some scenery is perfect. Each turn of the year. Each year older. Each year alive. I feel blessed to have all and Michele’s bright eyes to lead into the future.

2024 is the new 2020

I think back to 2020 and the excitement we had going into that year. We had a vision for what we wanted and where we wanted to go. A lot of things got in the way between then and now. As I look forward to 2024, I think this is what our 2020 was destined to be. It just needed a little bit of “Seasoning”.

I wish I could disclose all the strategies we have been working on to reach new heights. Yall will just have to wait and see. We love all of our family and friends that have watched this story for the last couple of years. It has been an interesting ride to say the least. 

Happy Holidays to your family from ours and we look forward to seeing you around the world again soon!