Category: kindness
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I hugged a sign.
I hugged a sign last weekend, and it hugged me back. It’s official! At this very moment, cars are driving over the Judge Ramón Alvarado Bridge in Gwinnett County. I am overjoyed and grateful to everyone who made this possible, especially State Representative Chuck Efstration for proposing the bill, which passed unanimously. I spoke at…
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Remembering Ramón
I think we’ve all had the same pressing question lately: How do I live a life that’s so amazing they name a bridge after me? Just kidding. But, as we near next weekend’s bridge dedication ceremony and after-party, it’s really hitting me that Ramón is getting a freakin’ bridge named after him. In his relatively…
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Despite the date
April 26. I’ve said that date aloud many times throughout my life. As a perpetual patient, I divulge my birthday at doctor visits, as I coordinate refills, and as I sit impatiently on the phone while sorting out the latest health insurance debacle. When hospitalized, I say it countless times each day, even wearing a…
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Happy birthday, Your Honor!
Today this guy would have turned 43! It would have also been the three-year anniversary of his cancer diagnosis. This year, as the date approached, I simply viewed it as Ramón’s birthday. In fact, I only remembered two days ago about the coinciding cancer-versary. That’s major progress in my healing journey! Here are some ways…
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Thank you for everything
A friend gifted me this leather bracelet in August. She conspired to get a sample of Ramón’s handwriting, and my mom had a note from Ramón thanking my parents for everything they’d done to help us since his diagnosis. I first opened the bracelet the day we got back to Atlanta after scattering Ramón’s ashes…
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One week of widowhood
It’s been one week since we said goodbye to Ramón, and it’s been more than 14 weeks since I said farewell to the version of Ramón I’d known since December 2011. In many ways, I’ve been grieving since April, but the sorrow has taken a different shape now, knowing that the possibility of recovery no…
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Day +93 (today): Hospital Day 100 (yesterday)
Today is day +93 since transplant, and yesterday was Ramón’s 100th consecutive day in the hospital. Though each individual day has felt exhaustively long, the days have merged together in a way that seems like no time has passed. Despite all the twists and turns that led us here, it was a good day. Some…
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Thank you, Atlanta Braves
Day +54: Keep swinging – June 3, 2020 You know when you’re just staring at the computer screen, deciding what to say to Hank Aaron? Do you not know that feeling? Because I do! Tonight, Hammerin’ Hank took the time to email us after becoming aware of our story. I was born a Braves fan,…
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Days +5 to +8
Day +5: Window of opportunity – April 15, 2020 It’s been a while since I’ve said this, but we had a good day! Though we’ve had glimpses throughout the days, I can officially say that today, as a whole, was good. The highlights include fewer bouts of extreme hiccups, being fever free the entire day,…
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twenty is plenty
Well, well, well … It’s hospital day 20. It’s not Ramón’s best day, but we’re making the best of every day. When I’m faced with anxiety-provoking situations, I try to apply logic to make the uncertainty disappear. For example, I have been replaying last May’s induction chemotherapy, trying to remember what happened on what day,…
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Enjoy the ride
It’s hard to believe we are where we are. Last Sunday we were near Blue Ridge where Ramón kick-started the week by running up a mountain – no exaggeration. Then, on Monday morning, we sipped coffee while watching the sunrise from the comfort of a hot tub, soaking in the glorious moment unfolding before us.…
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Peace out, 2019
The time has finally come to say goodbye to one of the best, most awful years of my life. I got a cold on Thanksgiving (so thankful), which spiraled into quite a mess. After five days in the hospital—as the patient this time—I am at home on day 20 of IV antibiotics. So, as the…
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tiny kindnesses
Ramón and I watched a movie, Paterson, the other night, and the main character was a poet. It got me thinking about how much I used to love writing poetry when I was younger. That being said, I’m about to attempt to write a little who-knows-what-form-this-will-take poem. tiny kindnessesa smile, a wave, a hi met…
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Share Love, That’s All
Tomorrow marks three months since Ramón’s cancer diagnosis—uh, I mean, birthday. A few days after Ramón’s diagnosis, surprise visitors arrived at the hospital: Lindsey and Mike. We hadn’t met them before, but a mutual friend linked us up because Mike, too, had been diagnosed with leukemia three years prior. I missed their visit (because I…
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Donate blood, platelets, and kindness
How can you help? That’s the million-dollar question! For all practical purposes, we’re taken care of, and we are grateful for that. We’ve got countless food options, tons of entertainment, an outpouring of love, and our attitudes are as good as can be (except when we have to constantly re-authenticate ourselves on the hospital’s wireless…