Aug 29 08

As an ‘fyi’ for a few people who have asked… we will not be participating in this year’s Leukemia & Lymphoma Society “Light the Night” event.

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As I was riding my (actually Andrew’s) bike the other day, I rode by the DuPont Country Club where Chris and I had our wedding reception 25 years ago and where we surprised her with a 20th anniversary party back in ‘03. At the time, people asked me why I threw Chris a party for our 20th rather than waiting for our 25th. I just felt like being married 20 years was a big deal and I wanted to surprise Chris with a nice party. (You’ll remember from Ali’s posting that we kept it a secret from Andrew, because keeping secrets was not exactly Andrew’s best quality. :)) As I rode by, I thought about how happy I am that we did throw that party for our 20th and not wait for the ‘traditional’ 25th because, of course, Andrew wouldn’t have been there with us in person for our 25th. I remember Andrew and some of his friends dancing like wild men at the party (even on the table…hopefully no one from the DuPont CC is reading this!!! :) What a blast that was! I guess just another reminder not to put off ‘living’. Enjoy the moment…make the most of it.

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This is going to sound crazy, but it’s something that I’ve wanted to share with you for some time. A couple months ago, we lost our power at around 8 or 9 at night. Do you know what? We had a great time! Chris, Ali, a friend of hers, and I played cards outside under an umbrella that has these tiny solar-powered lights. It was so eerily quiet and dark outside. Ali said she likes power outages and I understand why. (Of course, please know that I mean no disrespect to those who struggle with ‘real’ power outages that last more than our 6-8 hour variety. I pray for those in the Gulf Coast who are preparing for Gustav. And, boy, I remember how scared I was in the hospital when we lost power and Andrew was on the ventilator. The couple of seconds it took for the generator to kick in seemed like eternity. So, please don’t misunderstand me here.) I guess I just bring this up to plant a seed that, as crazy as it sounds, parents - consider turning the lights and TV off some night and just find a way to have fun with your kids. Kind of like camping at home. :)

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Make the most of this Labor Day weekend. Have a FUN & SAFE holiday!

Live Like Andrew - “Be who you are, and be that well.” (St. Francis de Sales)

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad