We went to Barbados which was absolutely wonderful. It was beautiful , it was relaxing, the food was good, what more can you ask for? Cell phones don't work there so it made us slow down and spend some quality time together as a family. This picture of us was taken inside Harrison's Cave, a must see if you make it to Barbados.A couple of weeks later we went to New Jersey and New York. There were lots of treats during that trip, the biggest was seeing Ryan. Ryan is a young man that Eli refers to as his brother because they are both fighting cancer. I've talked about him here before. This was my first time meeting him and I now
understand why Eli thinks the world of this kid. He's been through a lot battling cancer, but he has the best spirit, personality, sense of humor, just everything. We had the honor of being able to accompany Ryan and his dad Kirby at the NFL headquarters in NYC. It was a surprise for Ryan so seeing his face light up when he realized where we were was great. As soon as we set foot in the offices we ran into Adam Schefter who works with the NFL Network. The ironic thing was that Adam used to be a reporter when Eli played for the Broncos so he remembered him from those days that seemed like they were a 100 years ago. I made the guys pose for a pic (you know I've always got my camera on me).We also got to meet Mike Pereira who is over NFL officiating, He was hilarious! Nothing like getting a retired NFL linebacker and an NFL referee in a closed space together. Pure comedy. Mike cut us deep when he talked about a little incident where Eli was flagged for a dirty hit and ejected from the game. It's still a sore subject for me (snicker).
Ryan got a kick out of hearing the two debate about X's and O's, but the best part was when he was presented with a red Matt Leinert jersey. And of course it looked perfect with the Arizona Cardinals hat he was sporting that day. He couldn't wait to put it on!
One of the next stops was to the NFL Network control room. It was cool to see where they record every single game that takes place during the season and how they look over all of the calls that are made on the field.
Ryan and Eli got to play a game called "You Make the Call" where they sat in front of the big screen and the NFL Network guys cued up different plays and asked them whether or not the refs got the call right. Needless to say my husband always favored the defense.Ryan was then taken to see Super Bowl rings, trophies and all sorts of NFL memorabilia. But I think it's safe to say that his favorite part was getting to meet NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. I'm such a cry baby that I had to excuse myself from the room at one point. Seeing Ryan's grin spread from ear to ear when Goodell let him sit at his desk and even presented him with the Lombardi trophy like he does the Super Bowl winning team was just phenomenal.
Everyone there was so wonderful to us (I haven't even mentioned all of them), and being able to experience that day with Ryan and Eli was so special to me. I had no clue that it would be as amazing as it was.
Well believe it or not, there was even more great stuff going on in July. Elijah and I have been praying about what direction we want to see TMF go in. We have begun exploring ways to expand our financial assistance program to include hospitals outside of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex and also add another component for myeloma patients. We know it will take some time, but we also know it's possible. We have had some amazing people come into our lives through this journey and we are convinced that this is what we are supposed to do. Please keep our family and our foundation in your prayers. Elijah is continuing to do well and guess what, we celebrated his 38th birthday yesterday! It wasn't a big deal to him, but it was to me. In 2005 when I read that myeloma patients tend to live 3-4 years after diagnosis, I wasn't sure if my husband would even see his 38th birthday. God is good.
Love, Kimberly
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