Cradle Robber Island

I am continually amazed by the human body and its many capacities to heal. They say that time heals all wounds; emotional and physical. Someone meeting Andrew today, less than 2 months after his last chemo treatment, would never be able to tell the tale he endured this past year. His hair has returned to his face, in all forms, and he was even kind enough to shave it before we left for our trip to Bermuda. As you can see from the picture he was more overjoyed than ever to shave. Needless to say I vetoed Juan Valdez's attempt to try and leave the country in the body of Andrew Waxman ..... good move on my part, but it was a good laugh for Linda, Pete and I.

But it's good that we can still laugh after the year that we've had. I'm also very happy to report that Andrew did participate in the Virginia Bar exam at the end of July. (he will not find out the results till mid-Oct.) And I'm also happy to report that our marriage survived the study process!! Andrew's firm was generous enough to give him about 4 weeks off to solely concentrate on his studies .... however no one told me it would solely be in our office at our house. If anyone would have asked me last year what my worst quality was, I would have said patience. But not after balancing this past month with Andrew in the house 24/7!! Though this past year was very trying, I found the time that Andrew was at home studying to be the hardest.... the uphill battle before the big reward ......

PARADISE!!!!! Finally, we made it to Bermuda ... aka, Cradle Robbers Island!!! In all the places that we've been, Bermuda was by far our favorite place to visit. It was beautiful, clean, safe, warm and windy and all class. And thank goodness for my sanity .... anyone who has even flown with Andrew can sympathize ..... is only a 2 hour flight from DC. We stayed at the Elbow Beach Resort and the picture above is the view from our bungalow lanai. What a view to wake up to every morning. We enjoyed our time relaxing on the beach, reading our books, shopping in the town of Hamilton and drinking lots and lots of frozen drinks at the bar!!! It was just what the doctor ordered. We also spent many hours on the beach people watching .... particularly at the 60-something year old men who were frolicking with their 20-something year old playmates!! Hugh Heffner would have been proud at the all-out cradle robbing taking place on the island. And it was a constant source of entertainment for us ... and with Andrew always looking older than me, with his dark hair and heavy beard ... he always received a wink-and a nod from the men who thought he was part of their club!! Andrew and I are determined to return with the entire family one day to Paradise!!!

But since returning to reality, life has returned to normal. About a week ago, Andrew had the port in his chest removed successfully. The last reminder of the year that changed our lives in so many ways. And yes, he did convince the doctor to give him the actual port that they removed as a souvenir.

Andrew has also returned to work which is great for me. I love my husband, but like carbs and sugar, in moderation!!! Just kidding ..... but I give couples credit who can own businesses together and see each other 24/7/365!!

We are also preparing for Andrew's first 3-month appointment with his new doctor, Dr. Wexler, at Sloan-Kettering in NY next Thursday. This week he had an MRI, PET Scan and Echo and we look forward to discussing what we understand is good news about the reports from the scans.

The next step for Andrew is to continue with his weight loss and exercise plan. The weight is falling off nicely ... which makes everyone, especially his doctors happy!! We are also eagerly looking forward to PSU football season and the 3 weddings we have this fall. It's nice to be able to plan for the future!!

And as for me .... I'm still at home and trying to plan my own future. After this year, I feel like the skies the limit ..... stay tuned!!

And as I sit in my new family room, unable to sleep because of the sinus infection I contracted on the plane ride home from vacation, I'm excited to see what the future holds for us. We have a new outcome on life, a good reason to smile everyday and a new house to do it all in .... well not a new house, but thanks to Big Pete, a remodeled one. While we were jet setting off around the world, Pete and Linda spent about 2 weeks at our house babysitting Winston and putting new hardwood and tile floors in our house ..... and we can't thank them enough for their patience with Winston and their love for doing this for us.

And for the first time in a while, we feel hopeful for the future; live for the present; and are thankful for the outcome of the past!!

Thank you to everyone for your love, thoughts and prayers ........