Vampdaddy

August 4, 2011

Ride, Baby Ride!

This weekend is the Pan Mass Challenge, the biggest athletic fundraiser in the United States. Over 6000 riders will raise more than $32 million, 100% goes directly to support research and treatment at Dana-Farber.

I’ve had the pleasure to be invited to serve as a speaker at the event’s kick-off, along with this guy. And Vampboy will be making a special, incredibly cute and thereby tear-jerking appearance.

Blog readers and lurkers are welcome to view the fun! As far as I know, the portion of the event I am speaking at will be recorded and available for viewing at www.pmc.org after 8pm on Friday (August 5th). You should watch the whole thing, but I’m slated to speak towards the end of the first hour.

And if you haven’t already, go ahead and give some donation love to Papa Bradstein , who is riding in his second PMC. I mean, come ON folks — the guy shaved his head and beard to raise money..Behold!

Watch the twitter feed for updates on Friday, and this here blog for any other posts, updates on viewing opportunities, etc. And, as always, thanks for being part of the journey.

1 comment | tags: cancer-free, me on video, PMC | posted in Blogging

July 24, 2011

An Open Letter to…

By vampdaddy

Dear newbie,

We haven’t met yet, but apparently I’m your dad.

It is said that we choose our parents. If that is the case, you have apparently gone the extra mile to get to us, through a kind women who has agreed to get you here, to us. Apologies for making you take the detour, but not every path in life is a straight line.

Your crib is in place, your brother kindly moving up to a “big boy bed” to make room. Your mom has brought out his former baby clothes, chosen the keepers and gotten rid of the rest. Friends, family and co-workers have ensured you will not rely solely on hand-me-downs, either. In fact, just tonight your mom folded some new jumpers — all organic, of course.

So, just wanted to say hi. See you soon.

2 comments

June 18, 2011

Numbers

By vampdaddy

Five

It is amazing how far we’ve come. Five years have passed so quickly, and yet that life lived in fear and worry seems so long ago. We come to today amidst incredible normalcy, albeit perhaps with more gratitude than the average person.

VB 13, C 0

VB continues to do well, including a recent MRI and PET scan that confirmed he remains with “No Evidence of Disease”. And if that weren’t enough, he has now completed his first ice skating show (the best dwarf of all — his “hi ho” at the top of his lungs brought the house down), graduated from kindergarten and finished his first round of swimming lessons. Shortly I’m sure he will defeat a great army and slay many dragons all while singing “Mama Mia” at the top of his lungs.

Six

We continue to move forward on adoption. Once you’ve done all of the paperwork and the social worker certifies you as “attractive” (no kidding — the home study actually says that) and lacking in serial-killer qualities, the process is a lot of “hurry up and wait”. Thus far we’ve had our “profile” (that’s the 4-page preamble of who you are and why you might be a good choice for parenthood) shared with about six birth mothers, but no takers yet. So we wait for the next call — possibly the right one.

Two

That’s the number of months that have gone by since I’ve posted anything here. I’ll refrain from the usual apologies, accept to say that life’s been moving, and enjoyably enough so as to put my time and energy elsewhere. There are worse things….

One Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifty

That’s the number – in dollars — that I’m hoping to raise for this years Jimmy Fund Walk. Still a ways to go, but no day like the anniversary of my son’s diagnosis to reach out and ask folks to give, so that others may one day enjoy a day as normal as this one. Honor my son, and perhaps one of your loved one’s, with a donation today.

Happy Father’s Day, everyone!

1 comment | tags: Adoption, Anniversary, cancer-free, Jimmy Fund Walk | posted in Blogging

April 22, 2011