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2012 will forever be a year that sticks out in my mind for a lot of reasons. It was a year full of personal ups and downs. Very high highs, and very low lows. But you know what? While the lows heavily outnumbered the highs, the magnitude of the highs go unmatched. So for me, this year has been a positive one on a pretty grand scale. So rather than fight and argue all the time, I decided it would be nice to move things in a positive direction to end the year. Feel free to contribute your own stories.
January: After being a migraine sufferer for 18 years, and facing failed treatment after failed treatment, I faced a dismal future when an anomaly showed up on a CT scan. My doctor, being honest to a fault sometimes, told me that with my symptoms and the imagery, there was a very real possibility that I had a Chordoma - a very rare tumor at the base of the skull. Although rare, I have had two grandparents pass from this. This is the first time I have publicly discussed this, and it was the reason behind my absence here for a span of nearly a month. After going to multiple specialists and undergoing a battery of tests, it was determined that I had a progressed form of Cervical Spondylosis. When they explained to me that it meant I had osteoarthritis of the neck, the sensation I felt to know it wasn't cancer, was a feeling of relief that will likely forever go unmatched for me. I took this month as a huge positive.
February: Sparing the details, a fierce opponent/enemy of mine became someone I have come to consider a friend. A positive by any measure.
March: There was St. Patrick's Day. That's like Christmas for my kind
April: Thursday. April 26. Robert Griffin III. Nuff said.
May: A couple that my wife and I are very good friends with were finally set to tie the knot, after years of personal struggle. They were both born and raised in the same village in Ireland, and had managed to never cross paths for over 20 years before both coming to America and meeting at church. A church neither had ever been to before that day. They originally wanted to fly to Ireland for their wedding, but financial hardship made it impossible, and the sad tone that was placing on their upcoming wedding could be felt by everybody. Since I was in no position to get them to Ireland, I did the next best thing. I talked to the bride's brother a month before the wedding and got contact info for relatives they still had in Ireland. After meeting dead end after dead end in my attempt at a gift, I finally struck gold. I was able to have dirt packaged and shipped from their home town in Ireland, and it arrived just days before the wedding. At the wedding ceremony, my wife and I presented them with the box and a note explaining what was inside. The smiles and tears of joy from both of them made it one of the happiest moments I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of.
June: Too hot to remember.
July: I accomplished the next step of many in my life, and celebrated 3 years of sobriety by getting ****ty ass drunk. Just kidding......about the getting drunk part. My continued sobriety amazes me to this day, because I am still madly in love with alcohol, even though I haven't looked her way in over 3 years. This month also marked 11 years of being married to who is easily the most patient and tolerant woman on the face of this planet. Can you imagine 11 years day in and day out with me? Bless her heart, she deserves a medal. She truly is my hero.
August: I finally decided if things can't go my way, it's time to carve my own path. I decided to go back to school and pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. The degree I probably should have went for in the first place. It was one of the best decisions I will ever make for the future of my family and myself.
September: One of the greatest months I have had in a very long time. On September 8th, after a 25 year search, I finally got to meet my brother again. I will spare the sappy details, but we are similar in every way other than his horrible taste in football teams. We get along great, and it was never awkward - just like we picked up right where we left of 25 years ago. On top of that, our kids and wives get along great too. Of all the crazy similarities in mannerisms and such that we have, perhaps the weirdest of all is that we were married on the exact same day at the exact same time. Less than 10 miles apart. It will make future anniversaries pretty awesome. A great month indeed.
October: My father received his annual results for his liver function tests. He found out that even without treatment, the years of research and work we put in to finding natural alternatives that could possibly cure his disease were working. Against medical reason, against the suggestion of all of his doctors, against everything we were told. His numbers came back, and for the first time in the 6 years since his diagnosis, his MELD score had dropped. Not only did it drop, it dropped out of the danger level. Also, his hemoglobin count was nearly normal, his WBC and RBC were both in the normal range, and his Hep C viral blood count had dropped to a nearly immeasurable level. Without medicine. Sometimes it pays to do your homework and go with your gut. The drug companies don't always get it right. The medicinal treatments nearly killed him twice in the previous year. A huge positive.
November: For the first time ever, my wife and I were able to put together a Thanksgiving dinner with all of our siblings and parents. It was pretty amazing when the sentimental aspect of it started to sink in. It was the only time we had ever all been together at one time, and it took some pretty amazing feats of logistics to make it all come together, and every thing about that day was as perfect as it could have possibly been.
December: On December 3, my new favorite brother made a long time dream of mine come true when he took me to FedEx for my first Redskins game. The fact we made the Giants our bitch made it that much more amazing. I'm looking forward to a great rest of the month, and to another amazing year next year.
Merry Christmas, ho ho ho mother****ers. Enjoy my new medicine as much as I obviously am
We may be a dysfunctional bunch of bastards, but we're a family here at BGO dammit. I wouldn't trade any of it. You're all irreplaceable, even the assholes Seriously though, thank you all for always being here.
January: After being a migraine sufferer for 18 years, and facing failed treatment after failed treatment, I faced a dismal future when an anomaly showed up on a CT scan. My doctor, being honest to a fault sometimes, told me that with my symptoms and the imagery, there was a very real possibility that I had a Chordoma - a very rare tumor at the base of the skull. Although rare, I have had two grandparents pass from this. This is the first time I have publicly discussed this, and it was the reason behind my absence here for a span of nearly a month. After going to multiple specialists and undergoing a battery of tests, it was determined that I had a progressed form of Cervical Spondylosis. When they explained to me that it meant I had osteoarthritis of the neck, the sensation I felt to know it wasn't cancer, was a feeling of relief that will likely forever go unmatched for me. I took this month as a huge positive.
February: Sparing the details, a fierce opponent/enemy of mine became someone I have come to consider a friend. A positive by any measure.
March: There was St. Patrick's Day. That's like Christmas for my kind
April: Thursday. April 26. Robert Griffin III. Nuff said.
May: A couple that my wife and I are very good friends with were finally set to tie the knot, after years of personal struggle. They were both born and raised in the same village in Ireland, and had managed to never cross paths for over 20 years before both coming to America and meeting at church. A church neither had ever been to before that day. They originally wanted to fly to Ireland for their wedding, but financial hardship made it impossible, and the sad tone that was placing on their upcoming wedding could be felt by everybody. Since I was in no position to get them to Ireland, I did the next best thing. I talked to the bride's brother a month before the wedding and got contact info for relatives they still had in Ireland. After meeting dead end after dead end in my attempt at a gift, I finally struck gold. I was able to have dirt packaged and shipped from their home town in Ireland, and it arrived just days before the wedding. At the wedding ceremony, my wife and I presented them with the box and a note explaining what was inside. The smiles and tears of joy from both of them made it one of the happiest moments I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of.
June: Too hot to remember.
July: I accomplished the next step of many in my life, and celebrated 3 years of sobriety by getting ****ty ass drunk. Just kidding......about the getting drunk part. My continued sobriety amazes me to this day, because I am still madly in love with alcohol, even though I haven't looked her way in over 3 years. This month also marked 11 years of being married to who is easily the most patient and tolerant woman on the face of this planet. Can you imagine 11 years day in and day out with me? Bless her heart, she deserves a medal. She truly is my hero.
August: I finally decided if things can't go my way, it's time to carve my own path. I decided to go back to school and pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. The degree I probably should have went for in the first place. It was one of the best decisions I will ever make for the future of my family and myself.
September: One of the greatest months I have had in a very long time. On September 8th, after a 25 year search, I finally got to meet my brother again. I will spare the sappy details, but we are similar in every way other than his horrible taste in football teams. We get along great, and it was never awkward - just like we picked up right where we left of 25 years ago. On top of that, our kids and wives get along great too. Of all the crazy similarities in mannerisms and such that we have, perhaps the weirdest of all is that we were married on the exact same day at the exact same time. Less than 10 miles apart. It will make future anniversaries pretty awesome. A great month indeed.
October: My father received his annual results for his liver function tests. He found out that even without treatment, the years of research and work we put in to finding natural alternatives that could possibly cure his disease were working. Against medical reason, against the suggestion of all of his doctors, against everything we were told. His numbers came back, and for the first time in the 6 years since his diagnosis, his MELD score had dropped. Not only did it drop, it dropped out of the danger level. Also, his hemoglobin count was nearly normal, his WBC and RBC were both in the normal range, and his Hep C viral blood count had dropped to a nearly immeasurable level. Without medicine. Sometimes it pays to do your homework and go with your gut. The drug companies don't always get it right. The medicinal treatments nearly killed him twice in the previous year. A huge positive.
November: For the first time ever, my wife and I were able to put together a Thanksgiving dinner with all of our siblings and parents. It was pretty amazing when the sentimental aspect of it started to sink in. It was the only time we had ever all been together at one time, and it took some pretty amazing feats of logistics to make it all come together, and every thing about that day was as perfect as it could have possibly been.
December: On December 3, my new favorite brother made a long time dream of mine come true when he took me to FedEx for my first Redskins game. The fact we made the Giants our bitch made it that much more amazing. I'm looking forward to a great rest of the month, and to another amazing year next year.
Merry Christmas, ho ho ho mother****ers. Enjoy my new medicine as much as I obviously am
We may be a dysfunctional bunch of bastards, but we're a family here at BGO dammit. I wouldn't trade any of it. You're all irreplaceable, even the assholes Seriously though, thank you all for always being here.