I'm want to start off by saying Ed is doing fantastic. He's back to doing the things he loves and is enjoying the retired life now. I talk to Ed a lot, it usually doesn't go too many days before one of us reaches out to the other. Whether it's a question about something or a random thing that came through one of our minds from our journey. We have become very close as you can imagine’ we try to get together several times a year and get a few fishing trips in. Ed has a place down in Florida now and likes to send me fishing pictures. While it's painful to be sitting in NJ (especially with the way the weather has been lately) it brings a smile to my face seeing Ed live the life he worked hard for. We started going to Florida every year around the time of our surgery to celebrate. We plan on doing that for years to come, we may switch it up a little and do some different trips. We = Ed, Justin, and I. We talk about the different stories from Penn hospital and often it ends with Ed and I saying how bad the food was. We make sure to make up for that by eating as much good seafood as we can. It has been great to have that yearly get away with the two of them. Ed and Justin have felt like family all along, I never see that changing. I will be forever grateful to have both of them and their families in my life, they have always been there for me and I, will always be there for them. I had a few close family members pass over the years after surgery. Like any good family out there, Ed and Justin were there for me and my family when we needed it most. You never really know when something small while forever be permanent in your mind. When my Uncle Bud passed away, I quickly thought of all the great memories we had over the years. One of my most memorable memories was at my grandmothers 90th birthday party. Before we focused on my Saint of a grandmother, he stood up in front of the family, told everyone how proud of me he was and called me a hero. It was one of the most proud moments I had ever felt and it made me feel really good inside. His words and the expression on his face will forever be engraved in my memory. I think this may have weighed on me a little more because Uncle Bud and Ed knew each other. The 3 of us would occasionally run into each other while at Penn Medicine. In the beginning, Uncle Bud would check on Ed when he was there. As time passed, Ed was feeling better and checking on Uncle Bud when he could. Very early on in this whole process, Uncle Bud made it clear. Ed was now part of the family, and family takes care of each other. Just one of the many things I had learned from my Uncle. For that I am grateful.
As I try to finish typing this up, more and more things come into mind. I remember this day 6 years ago. I was starving right now, it was the night before surgery. I wasn’t allowed to eat much. I remember not really worrying about it too much after awhile (there were bigger things to worry about at that time). Tomorrow was a big day and I needed to sleep and I had a few things written down that I needed to do before calling it a night. I was so anxious, sleep was tough. I remembered feeling like I just feel asleep but it was early as hell. But we got through it. We will be in Florida later in the week. I hope to have some new pictures to share as well. I do want to thank everyone/anyone again who was supportive over this time in my life. I get to reflect on that once a year (thanks to time-hop) reading some of the words is always humbling. Below are some pictures over the years and trips we have been on since surgery. Remember to always help those in need. Big or small, you may make more of an impact on someone then you will ever know. You also never know when you may need help yourself one day, so do what you can and stay humble! Life is good!
