Wednesday, May 26, 2010

So, I am going to try to post something without getting too upset. This day is a bit hard for Jerad and I. One year ago, on a Wednesday, just like today, I walked down to the busstop to meet Ally. She dropped her backpack at the corner, and took all the strength she could muster just to walk the four houses home. She went straight to the couch and laid down. I opened her backpack and found her lunchbox. Her lunch was still inside it, never touched. I got a pit in my stomach and called the doctor, but never ever thinking it would be leukemia. The day was exactly like today....it was sunny and hot and just like summer. Last year, some of the neighbor kids had gone to our community pool to try to cool off. I called my friend Nicki, who was at the pool, and asked her to come help me out and stay with the kids while I took Ally to the doctor...who sent us to the hospital. After the blood test, and me running down the hall to get Jerad, we heard from our family doctor the news. We both felt kicked in the stomach, confused, and frantic. Well, you can read the whole story here. http://all4ally.blogspot.com/2009/06/diagnosis.html I really don't need to relive it again.

But again, today was somewhat eerie for me. Because the weather and the day seemed so alike. But today is different. Today, Ally came home from school. She walked home all on her own and I was upstairs putting her sister down for a nap. When I walked back down the stairs, she was standing in the kitchen with her bathing suit on with a big grin on her face. She really didn't even say hi to me but instead told me she was going to the pool with Madison. And she did! Although Ally sat on the side of the pool for a lot of last summer, today she was right in the middle of the pool playing with all the kids!! And when her Dad came home from work, she asked him if he would take her back to the pool. So what a difference a year can make.

Tomorrow actually marks the one year anniversary of Ally's diagnosis. May 27 will forever be a horrible day for me. (Sorry to my friend Shelley whose baby boy was born on this exact day last year...Happy Birthday Joshua) But on this May 27th, we are marking the anniversary in a good way. I will post tomorrow about that.

For now, I am going to continue with little bits of information from the fundraiser Saturday night. While I wait for some photos of the event to come in, I will post a video instead. This is for the out-of-towners and/or people not there that night...but these are my remarks that I spoke to the crowd. Thanking the army, talking a little about my hero Ally, and describing my Dad's giant heart to the crowd. On another blog day, I will post my Dad's remarks too...I can't overtax the system here with too much.

6 comments:

  1. You did great my sweet!! I knew you would :) What a journey this year has been, you've all come through so much so well. Take care and enjoy the anniversary of a well fought year.
    Oh, and CUTE hair too!

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  2. That day will forever be one that changed all of our lives. I can vividly remember where I was, who I was with and how I felt when you told me the news. Ally has come so far and has been so brave. She has inspired so many including myself to do things we were not brave enough to do before. She doesn't even realize the impact she has made. Someday she will and she should be very proud.

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  3. Well I thought I'd be able to watch the video without getting teary-eyed again. Nope. You did very well. I too remember where I was and what I was doing that day. When you told me about her not being able to carry her backpack home, I too didn't feel very good about that. In a way, I can't believe it's been a year already, but at the same time it sure went slow--more so for you I'm sure. But yes, what a difference a year makes! She is doing so well and it's so good to see!

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  4. What an awesome job you did Janel. Thank you for sharing that video with those of us who could not be there. Not only is your dad the man of the year, your entire family is the family of the year. Yes Ally is winning this fight and her army will continue to battle until no other child has to face this. Your dad was there for my family many times and for that I will always be grateful. Stay strong and even though it is tough to look back, see how far you have come and be proud of all that you have survived and accomplished. One day at a time, keep up the awesome work. Thanks Ally for all that you have given each one of us. I will never forget the day I was able to come to your house and you painted my nails sooooo many colors. It was a great conversation piece on my plane ride home to Florida. My thoughts and prayers are with you each and every day.

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  5. Oh Janel, you did a beautiful job! I am so impressed how your family has taken this terrible, horible, awful situation and put your positive twist on it. Wow!!!!!! It would be so easy to feel sorry for yourselves and complain how unfair everything is. But no, you all looked this cancer straight in the face and decided not only to win Ally's battle, but to win the battle for everyone fighting leukemia and lymphoma!!!! You are all so amazingly strong and quite the inspiration to us all! God bless you all!

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  6. As we celebrate Joshie's birthday each year, we will always remember YOUR May 27, 2009. As you said at the end of the video that was showed at Ally's party, I do believe God chose your family to battle this horrific disease for a reason. You and your family are doing so much for all cancer patients. Ally has been an inspiration to so many...always having a smile on her face, even when she's getting cranial radiation! She has come so far in one year. We look forward to seeing her a year from now!

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