Happily Ever After

Our Dade City family showed their Team Dan spirit on Easter Sunday!




MK and Ross celebrated Easter in Vero with Leah's parents.



Dear Friends,

So much has happened over the last month it is almost too much to digest. First and foremost, Dan's MRI showed no progression of the cancer!!! We met with Dan's neuro-oncology team at Duke this past Monday where we mapped out our next 12 week chemo plan. Dan will begin his new routine on Monday (3/31). This will be a pill taken once every 6 weeks. Dan's blood will be monitored weekly to make sure that all of his counts remain strong. We continue to give praise to God for Dan's health and for providing for our family. We are also extremely thankful for our wonderful friends, Mike and Kelly, who graciously cared for us during our trip to NC.

We moved into our new home this past Thursday. It is lovely. Dan and I were taking some empty boxes to the curb on Thursday night when we both stopped and just listened. Being from Orlando we are so used to the sound of busyness that we were overwhelmed by the tranquillity of the moment. It was far from silent, but the sounds were of nature and over it all was the beautiful rhythm of the Atlantic ocean. We truly believe that we are living in God's will and we are looking forward to a season of peace and continued healing.

I think that is particularly poignant that our next life-chapter begins at Easter. As Christians, we believe that Easter is when Jesus conquered death. It is the time when we focus on the joy of eternal life. We are no longer measured by the mistakes we have made in the past, our transgressions are made clean by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, and our future is now unlimited. There is no better time to start anew than this!

The kids are looking forward to starting in their new school on Monday. They are on Spring Break this week. Both of their new teachers took time away from their families to give the children the opportunity to walk around their new classes and quell their anxieties. Last week, our wonderful friends at Windermere Prep gave MK and Ross two HUGE "going away" parties. MK and Ross were given handmade cards, letters, gifts and memories that will sustain them when they feel lonely or afraid.

While I am on the subject of celebrations...Dan's company, Stryker Medical, had a wonderful dinner to honor the work that Dan did for them. People flew in from as far away as NJ to celebrate Dan's "retirement." It was a very honoring way for us to close that chapter of our lives.

It is always hard to say goodbye to friends. Leaving my Bible study was a particularly tender moment for me. I am so proud of the work that God has done with those wonderful women and I cannot wait to see the fruit that they produce in the future!

The amount of love and good wishes that we have received over the last few weeks has been simply awesome. I am grateful that we are not moving further away from Celebration. Each member of our family has developed life-long friendships that are our tangible (and thankfully portable) treasures.

One of my dear friends told me that you cannot fully embrace a new beginning until you have fully celebrated the ending. We have tried to do this. We are so pleased and thankful for the last chapter of our lives! Our friends will remain with us and change is unavoidable. We can look back over the last years of our lives and see God's fingerprints everywhere. Therefore, it is with great joy and contentment that we await the unfolding of our future here in Vero Beach.

Many blessings,
Leah (and Dan)

Dan's 33rd Birthday!!!

Dan forgot to mention that I was not the only one getting a little older this week. We celebrated his birthday with a family dinner last Wednesday!~Leah

It's My Birthday!

Hello everyone! I know it has been awhile since my last post, but after Leah's incredible writing I felt I needed to wait awhile till I wrote again. Her words are very hard to follow sometimes. A lot has happened since we last wrote. Leah celebrated her birthday last Saturday, March 1st. This was the day after my chemo treatment and we went to Vero Beach to celebrate with her folks and the children. Upon walking in the door around 5:30pm on Friday we were greeted by a very excited Mary Kathryn and Ross. They had decorated Lionel and Kathy's house with a "Happy Birthday" sign and balloons and streamers and a home made cake that said, "Happy Birthday Mom." The table was covered with a birthday tablecloth and the house looked really nice. This was all a surprise, by the way, by which Leah seemed to be quite taken. All the credit for setting this up goes to my mother-in-law, Kathy. Kathy, thank you very much. Your efforts were MUCH appreciated. To be able to orchestrate the cooking and decorating of the cake with the children was amazing. Thank you for your love and patience.

On the actual day of Leah's birthday I slept and the rest of the family went to the beach. By the time I got up everyone was returning and ready for lunch. After lunch it was time for Leah to go to the special day Kathy had set up for her at their club's private spa. Leah was treated to a facial and scalp massage and had an all around good time. When she returned home she looked very relaxed and ready for a nap. That night we had sushi for dinner and celebrated Leah's birthday for real. It was a very nice time and we all enjoyed being together. Thanks, again, to Kathy for helping me make Leah's day special.

We got some great news from our realtor over the weekend. We have a contract on our house! I do not want to go into specifics for fear of violating some law or another, but I can say this; Leah was feeling uneasy on Sunday morning on the way back from church and what she prayed for is exactly what God delivered! The power of prayer is an amazing power, folks. I can now recount several stories of divine intervention that have taken place since my diagnosis that confirm the presence of God by my side. If you have ever heard of the story, "Footprints," I feel like the Lord is carrying us right now. We will be moving on the 26th and 27th of March and coming back to close on the 31st. That just happens to be the week my in-laws were going to have the kids for our trip to Duke over Easter weekend. This is also the week of Mary Kathryn and Ross's spring break at their new school! Talk about timing! Everything seems to be happening so smoothly--it is almost frightening. Between now and the closing date we are going to be so busy it scares me. Getting ready for the move and keeping up with everything else in normal life is going to be interesting. (As normal as our lives are right now, that is.)

Just to highlight some of what we have coming up; This coming weekend we have 2 birthday parties for the kids and then Sunday is the annual Steeple Chase horse race in Dade City. The following week I have a dinner with Stryker on Wednesday and then my Mom arrives the next day from Texas. My mother is here to help with the children for my last round of CPT-11 chemo before I go to the new program. So Friday will be my last round of the current chemo program which should be a lot of fun. The last treatment I had I was not given the usual anti-anxiety meds or the anti-nausea meds. Oh, and it took 3 times to get my I.V. line in, AGAIN! (You can tell I'm really looking forward to this last one, right?) Friday night is Ross's t-ball game which I AM looking forward to. We have a great team this season and the kids all seem to enjoy playing. I know Ross is having a great time so far. On Monday the 17th I will take my Mom to the airport and then return to the house to meet Alberto, my safe guy. This is the gentleman who will be moving my 1,500 pound safe to our new house in Vero. Friday we will head to Vero again to drop the kids off so we can travel to Duke on Easter Sunday for my appointment on Monday the 24th. We return late Monday night and the following Wednesday the movers will show up to pack and load. Thursday the physical move will occur and Friday I am going turkey hunting for the weekend with some friends and family. We then come back to Celebration to close on the 31st, also the kids first day of school in Vero. Sound exciting? Overwhelming? I'll be lucky if Leah and I can keep it together during this time.

Pray for us, friends, we need it now more than ever. I know God would not over extend us during this time. I rest comfortable in the knowledge that what lays ahead looks difficult but is not impossible. Sorry this post was so long coming, but thanks again for all your support. We love you!

Sincerely,

Dan and Leah