Hey All,
I thought I would get one more journal entry out there for everyone before we left just to give you all an update.
On Thursday, three friends of my sister Lindsey, put on a fundraiser for me at the Eastwin Valley Golf Course. They set a new record for the number of holes played at that course in a single day with a total of 100 holes. I went out there with my sister and father and played a round of golf. Thank you guys for doing this. Aside from that event, there have been a number of other people who have all been very proactive in raising support and awareness through various events and I wanted to use this opportunity to thank them all as well.
On Friday, I went down to Milwaukee with my girlfriend, of whom I may talk about more in future updates – not sure yet – might have to run it by her first. We had tenative plans to go to Summerfest to meet up with two of my best friends, Jason and Nathan. My brother Mike had also decided to make the trek over to Milwaukee to attend Summerfest with us as well. That night, my favorite band of all time was going to be playing at the Miller stage. As Cari and I were heading down, I received a text message from Jason that I would be able to do a “meet & greet” with the entire band before the show! I gave Mike a call and invited him promptly.
We got to Summerfest and basically just listened to various bands that were playing and did plenty of people watching…that seems to be the most popular thing to do at Summerfest. Anyway, Nathan and his girlfriend, Sarah, arrived shortly after we got there and met up with me, Cari, and Jason. Mike soon followed behind them. As the night progressed, and the showtime became closer, Jason made attempts at getting me and maybe one other person up in the VIP section which sits above the stage…sort of like a balcony where you can watch the show. Well, the person that Jason talked to heard about my story and the reasoning behind me really wanting to see The Offspring (the name of the band). Before we knew it, all sorts of people were pulling strings to get all of us backstage. Within 20 minutes we all found out that we were all going to be able to do the meet and greet, get pictures and autographs, AND get to watch the entire show ON THE STAGE. This wasn’t even the VIP section…this was the “close friends of the band” section. It was absolutely incredible! It was quite easily the best concert I have ever been to in my entire life! Thank you Jason! Also a big thank you to Doug Johnson, Scott Biel, and John Schroeder! It was a total collaborative effort on all of their parts for that all to happen.
On Saturday and Sunday, I took things pretty easy. I went to the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) Zoo with Cari on Sunday and did a little shopping for the trip to the Caribbean as well.
Today (Monday) I had a bone marrow biopsy down in Milwaukee. I needed to get one done before I left for the Virgin Islands so that the results would be ready by the time I got back. I also needed to get blood work done once more to be sure that I would be okay to go. If my counts had started to drop or something, then I may have had to call the entire thing off and begin some sort of treatment immediately. Fortunately, my blood counts all still looked okay and it looks like everything is definitely still on. Our plane flies out of Milwaukee at like 5:00am tomorrow morning and it is already getting kind of late for me to still be up. We will need to leave Two Rivers at like 2:00am to make sure we are down there and at the gate on time. Therefore, I need to cut this one short and head to bed!
Once again, thank you ALL so very very much for everything you have done for me and my family. I know I have said “thank you” probably 1,000 times, but each and every time I mean it with just as much sincerity and grace.
Love,
Eric