Who doesn’t like a good anniversary?
Five years ago I was diagnosed with ocular melanoma. Surgery took my left eye and the nickel sized tumor that was attached. A twisted version of Luck of the Irish. Six in a million. Anyway - still here. Technically, the anniversary is April 5 but I will be on a plane so in my own sense of optimism I figured I am good for a couple of weeks and got an early start.
The last picture taken of me with my own two eyes!
Five Years. Time flies. But I guess that only makes sense. I missed half of it. Several big anniversaries this year. Me - Five years cancer free. It likes the liver and the lungs if it comes back. Two MRI’s a year for the last four years but only one this year. This claustrophobe is glad for that. Back to the good news. Anniversaries. Mela will be 10 years cancer free this August. She has survived and thrived from Stage 3 Colorectal Cancer though it still has its own way of rearing its ugly head. Leave it at that.
Now the big one - Our 10 year wedding anniversary is August 11 if you wish to send gifts. It is a second marriage for both of us so we are thinking about counting double for anniversaries putting us at 20. At our age it is the only way we get to a respectable number.
So much has happened in the last five years. The pandemic thing. How that was handled will be countless case studies for public administration students for decades to come. Better News - Three weddings. My middle son Kyle got married to his sweethear Val in 2019 in Flaggstaff, Arizona and they now have a beautiful daughter, Anya. Our two daughters, Nicole and Gina also were married. Two great guys - Steven and Dwight.
Gina and Steven had a beautiful affair in Calistoga and Nicole and Dwight had a intimate but beautiful wedding on Maui. They were married in September and November of 2021 respectively. Nicole’s original wedding date of 10/10/20 was delayed to Covid. Side note - Apparently 10/10/20 was the biggest date for weddings in 2020.
Gina, Mela and Nicole on Gina’s big day!
Nicole, Dwight and their daughter Niko.
Kyle, Val and the Gang
Numerous birthdays including yours truly. A couple of trips to Disneyland with kids and grandkids. Wedding anniversary getaway to the Ritz Carlton property in Santa Barbara where my prosthetic eye came out in the pool. Fortunately, we found it quickly and a 8 year old with goggles kindly recovered it. So many life events that I am grateful for that I don’t need to bore you with. Amost forgot - Mela would never forgive me. We have opened our own Real Estate company. Onyx Real Estate. We will have a storefront office in El Dorado Hills. It is located right next to the UPS store in the Raleys shopping center. We should be opened around the first of April. Please come by.
God Bless. Stay Strong. Be Kind.