WOW!! "The night before" came fast.....tomorrow is the "big day"
Not going to rehash all the questions that have been following me around bogging me down....rather spend tonight reminiscing on the good things that have happened over the past 10 months.
I have talked about it before and will talk about it again and again and again......the blessings I have been receiving the past 10 months are mind blowing.
From the very moment this all started......January 25, 2012 folks were right there.....by my side....at my back.
The overwhelming amount of love and support that enveloped me around my time of diagnosis blew me away.....so much LOVE.....and in so many ways without the cancer diagnosis what a waste it would have been to go through this life never realizing the impact and changes I have made....again I will say....no matter what .....if my "time here is done" at least I know I left my mark in this world and am so happy and so thankful to all of you that reached out to me to let me know that I have in fact made a difference and that this world truly has been made a little bit of a better place because I was in it.
From the start with so many stepping up and being BEYOND GENEROUS with the chipin account, and the other generous gifts that took the burden of worry about losing my place to live , losing my independence.....losing everything......I AM SO VERY THANKFUL TO YOU ALL ( and I still have yet to finish sending my gratitude to each of you personally - your head would explode if you saw how long the list is!!)
The generosity and support continued through out. Emails, Facebook messages, cards and packages in the mail.
So blessed to not only meet new and amazing folks in my life ......for sure one of the best friends I will ever know and who without him by my side, my fellow warrior, my sometimes inspiration, my sometimes the push I need to hold my head up...... I would have been like a fish out of water these past months....THANK YOU ALAN!
But, also to be re- connected with so many wonderful friends from my past, friendships that span our globe.
And to be so blessed to have the bonds of family and friendship of those in my life strengthened beyond anything I could ever imagine.
One of the most amazing things of all of this was the benefit/fundraiser my friends and family threw for me on August 4......how do I even begin to describe that night.
So much love contained in one place....
I was overwhelmed by the group that took on the task of putting the entire event together
A HUGE MAHALO TO Noelle, Rudy, Stephanie, Marita, Allison, Shawna, Deroy, Kolea, Simon, Moana, Mali and everyone else not in the pic that worked so hard to make the night a success!!
___________________________________________________________________
I know everyone who worked so hard putting everything together as well as myself were absolutely blown away by the amount of folks that showed up at the event.
Folks I would have never imagined, folks I had never met and folks that I knew without a doubt would be there to support me no matter what.
I guess I can let the pics help tell the story of the night.
MAHALO to Noelle my wonderful friend and owner of "It's A Wild Life Photography" (http://www.itsawildlifephotography.com/) for all of the amazing photos and the constant love and support !
Need and amazing photographer for a family sesh or event check Noelle out , yesterday she did an amazing job photographing my hanai brother Dustin's marriage to Asia.
MAHALO to THE VENUE for giving us the perfect spot to have the event!!!
MAHALO to my brother Koa Johnson and his beautiful life partner Ann Marie for decorating the spot with their impeccable floral arrangements from The Flower Farm ( http://www.flowerfarmhawaii.com/) Seriously anyone on O'ahu looking for flowers for any event check them out, you will NOT be let down!
A HUGE MAHALO TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED TO THE SILENT AUCTION.....AND TO THE "SILENT AUCTION CREW" FOR GETTING MY PHOTOS DISPLAYED !!
The silent auction was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!! And YES in the coming week I will let everyone that was interested in participating but couldnt be there how they can get one of my canvas prints delivered right to your front door......trick is your going to have to match the highest bidder!!
MAHALO Deroy for filling in as "DA BEST EMCEE EVER"!!!
MAHALO to a wonderful friend and someone who has seen me through some of the roughest times the past months, Eric Keawa performing with his daughter Pomaika'i and his other performing 'ohana
\
MAHALO TO Mailani, her 'Ohana and performers
Huge MAHALO to performers John Yamasato and Darin Leong (sorry can not find pics of you guys performing)
____________________________________________________________________
LOVING my Feeney 'Ohana!!
Two amazing and very special ladies in my life!!
Nice my bookends huh??\
TONS OF LOVE FROM MY ENGLE 'OHANA
My Ocean Paddler TV boys
receiving the love from my sister Arna
Huge LOVE from my "honu 'Ohana"
PICU 'Ohana
One of my FAVORITE PEOPLE EVER TO ENTER MY LIFE!!
Never going to be a serious pic of the 3 of us!
________________________________________________________________________
So much love , so much support....sooooo many pics
Here is the link to an amazing video Noelle put together of all some of the pics for those that haven't seen it
______________________________________________________________________________
I wish you all could have been there......trips me out to think that if you ALL were to show up we would probably have to rent out Aloha Stadium...and the LOVE still woulda spilled over
how the hell did I ever get so lucky to be on the receiving end of so much love!!!
_____________________________________________________________________
I wish you all knew how much your generosity and support has had a direct impact on the past 10 months....the hospital bills are still mounting and climbing...still in the battle to receive my Social Security Disability Benefits.....state decides I can live on $10.00 a day ( NO SHIT) for food - HUGE MAHALOS to the "Mangia Mangia Club" for helping with that!!
and $300 a month to pay bills.......I have to keep asking myself WHY have I paid into the system since I was 16???
But thankfully for me KARMA is not a "bitch"
Apparently along the trip that has been my life I have put enough good out there that KARMA has turned around and blessed me with the support and generosity I have received from all of you.
I am ecstatic that I have been able to pay the rent on my house and keep the bills paid.....none of which would have been possible without all of your generosity and support
THANK YOU!!!
So it's past midnight here in Hawai'i.....should try to get some rest for tomorrows big appointment
.....nothing I can do now to change the results that I am going to here....but will be nice to get some kind of answers and ideas.
Wish I could say I was going to go in standing strong, ready to take on what ever they want to throw my way this time.....but truth be told .....I am EXHAUSTED and SCARED SHITLESS and just want this to all BE OVER.....
Wish I could say I was going to go in standing strong, ready to take on what ever they want to throw my way this time.....but truth be told .....I am EXHAUSTED and SCARED SHITLESS and just want this to all BE OVER.....
Frick....just planning Thanksgiving and Christmas this year will be nice.!!
As always MAHALO TO YOU ALL FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR ME!!
Special Prayers out to Terry Marmie and David....wish I could be with you......
Lisa you are in my thoughts all the time and wish I could be with you in the coming weeks.....
PEACE LOVE AND ALOHA TO YOU ALL
"Why did you do all this for me?" Wilbur asked. "I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you"
"You Have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing"
--E.B. White, Charlotte's Web
No comments:
Post a Comment