Dedicated to our very good friend:
Football season is a time when I get the computer to my hearts content and when I get whiney because my husband doesn't pay attention to me unless there's a commercial. And today marks the 40th Superbowl.
It has kind of become a tradition that a friend of ours comes out for various games throughout the season and just over the last few years for the Superbowl. Him and Pat have been friends since they were roughly 14 years old and played in bands together. I had the honor of meeting him when I was 16 and he has been like a family member ever since. He has seen all of our children grow into humans from that alien state that is infancy and all of our kids adore him. Even our animals love him to death.
So, today, we will be honored with his presence once again, actually he is due at any moment. I am disappointed to say that we cannot offer him a steak dinner which we like to do, an excuse for Pat to have the big 16+ ounce Porterhouse steak really. hehe.
I remember the whole Janet Jackson 'fo-pah'. Boz, our friend sat here as silent as us at first and then we all burst out laughing and proceeded to analyze the 'wardrobe malfunction'. Quite disgusting really how that all played out. Anyway, that moment of the day is very clear in our heads today. Superbowl Sunday has turned into something a little more than 'Superbowl Sunday' for Pat and myself though.
Boz had a battle with cancer over this last year. It was looking pretty bad and needless to say, it really put a damper on our lives because someone we have known for such a long time was really sick. Someone who has affected all of our lives in so many ways and is like a brother and an uncle in this house. Most guy friends that Pat has are decent. In fact all of them are but Boz is different. Not because he went through all that he did but because it is just who he is. A great guy. I had touched on my fears with him early on in the whole ordeal and the guy was strong as a rock! "I'll be fine, I'll beat it, don't worry." But if Boz knows me by now he knew that I was not feeling quite as optimistic.
He had to go through surgery to remove one tumor, his body was riddled, and he had to go through 4 rounds of chemo, each a week long for 7 weeks. Miraculously, once his final treatment was finished, his body was clean, not a sign of any cancer. Doctors were amazed, we were in awe and so thankful, it was a celebration of a very dear friends life. In fact, there were rumors that the docs wanted to use his story for a study.
Once we all settled with the idea that Boz was going to make it and he wouldn't be leaving us, life resumed at a different level for us all, that old slap in the face of reality. The idea that one should really cherish what they have in a friend and stop taking it for granted because it may not last. Life is short and a second chance is only granted to a select few.
SCREEEEEECH!!! Jump ahead to this football season. Now that we had all lived through this massive scare, although not to the extent that Boz did, we could commence our normal football game get togethers. Boz normally comes out here because Pat and I are just selfish that way, we don't like to do anything on the weekends but sit and be lazy, sorry friends, but Sundays are also family day and cleaning days in the house so if we leave we end up driving home cranky because there so much to do.
Anyway, earlier in this season we received a call from Boz that he thought the cancer was back. Lumps were back in his chest and neck and he felt horrible. What a blow that was to Boz and to us. No way, that just couldn't be, he recovered, it was gone.
It hit us a lot harder this second time around because we had seen him go from looking like a poster child to a guy that looked healthier than I can remember....ok Boz, you know what I mean. You see, for as long as I have known this guy he has been thin and always had problems gaining any weight. Once he had recovered a few months later he was showing off quite proudly his belly. After all was said and done with the chemo Boz couldn't keep the weight off. He kept saying how he was getting fat. That in itself was music to my ears...actually made me wonder how long this evil rodent had been festering inside of him.
Ok, I got off track here. Boz came out for a game after this phone call, one in which we urged him to come out and visit our hyper household hoping that maybe it would make him forget if only for a couple of hours. And he did want to come out but was not feeling very well. Looking at his face, the sadness and fear that I would bet that was there was obvious. I couldn't say much, I am not good in situations such as this. All I could do was imbed that image of him into my head and pray. He couldn't walk real well, he looked tired and his cheeriness was just gone. He looked like a defeated man. We all felt that doom hanging overhead and conversation was really light that day. We had to prepare...God, what and awful day that was.
Him and Pat took a walk that day. Later after Boz left, Pat was really sad and down. He looked at me and shared his thoughts. He feared that that may be the last time that him and Boz walk along the river valley that Boz loves so much. That we may not see him around much longer and that it was very hard for him to see his friend like that and to think that his friend may leave us. It broke my heart. Pat and I talked about things that him and Boz have done over the years, tennis, rollerblading, rock climbing, treacherous walks through the park....it was a black Sunday around here. For myself, I reverted into what I am so good at. Denial. Quiet. Sad. Scared. I don't deal well with things like this because life is short enough and to think that one that we have known for so long has been thrown such a nasty curve ball, well, it just isn't fair.
Within that week, we recieved a phone call from Boz. We weren't expecting what we heard but the cancer WAS NOT back. He was still clean of cancer! All the doctor could come up with is that he had some sort of a virus and that his immune system is weaker now. That any sort of virus could affect him and cause his lymph nodes to swell.
From that day on, we have turned that second scare into one big tactic in which to razz Boz a little. We call him 'Cancer Faker'. And we all laugh but have told him that he should never do that to us again.
So, to have Boz come over for the Superbowl that we thought he wouldn't be around for today is a special day for us now. Yes Boz, we were not very optimistic about that second round that turned into a false alarm.
You are loved in this house more than you know. You mean more to our kids, animals and ourselves than you could ever imagine. You have not arrived here yet and ALL four of the kids are asking where you are.
We're all very relieved and happy to have a second chance to pick on Boz. He is fun to pick on, laughs easy, and loves to rant with me. He is one guy who always seems genuinely happy to come to our humble abode regardless of how messy it is. And I tell ya, it can be very messy on some days.
Thanks for hanging around Boz, don't know what we would do without ya!
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