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Hi everyone,
What an incredible day... for so many reasons. Actually, about 450 of them! Yes, the bone marrow drive at Beth Tikvah was tremendously well attended... over 450 people attended, with 420 people who were able to be tested. Travis and Joe spent the entire morning there, Joe thanking people on behalf of all of us and Travis handing out origami flowers and boats to people as his thank you.
Unfortunately, we had a surprise last night which changed our plans for full family attendance. At about 7:30 pm, Joe and I were called back from our quick dinner out (rare quiet time), as Spencer was having problems. We were guessing maybe just needing attention and raced back ready to cuddle him to sleep. After an outpatient visit with him to the hospital, turns out he has Strep Throat! (As my Mom would say: Mitten Drinnen!" -- meaning: in the middle of everything!). So Spencer and I had an at-home date today, though I did get to the drive long enough to be totally overwhelmed with amazement and gratitude (and tears) and then be dragged out by Travis, who was ready to go rest after all the people and activity.
For those of you who weren't there, picture this... a parking lot FULL of cars (I had to drive around 2x to find a spot!), continuous lines of people waiting to be tested, a painting at the entry door by Travis that said "Welkum to the Bone Marow Drive -- Travis 1998", 25 volunteers doing different things to keep all organized, a raffle with a litho of Wrigley Field signed by Fergie Jenkins (famous Chicago Cubs pitcher) who was at the drive signing autographs for everyone and a baseball hat, ball and bats for Travis and Spencer, also raffles for a radio and hard-to-come-by Beanie Babies (Princess Di and Erin?) and Haircut (and others? I'm still getting the details myself), sweet tables FILLED with goodies all donated by local bakeries, press photographers snapping pics, a big dinosaur sign out front that proclaimed "Bone Marrow Drive for 5 year old Travis Yon TODAY!", and even piles of pizzas, donated by a local delish pizzeria for the hard-working volunteers and more.
Some of the many heartwarming stories... Some guy from Ohio was in town for a convention and saw a flyer posted and said "Hell, I can do this", pulled out a map and drove over and got tested!... A church group from Rockford, IL drove to our temple to be tested... two people chatting away for 15 minutes and finally introduced themselves, the first says :"By the way, I'm Melanie's cousin." And the other says, "hey, me, too!". They'd missed each other at all our family gatherings... The other is just the sight of so many people we knew from all different parts of our lives (Temple friends and acquaintances, neighbors, friends, clients, co-workers) and then realizing that half of the folks were people we DIDN't know, who had come to register to help Travis. So overwhelming. We did get a copy of the notebooks as people signed coming in... many names of people from different suburbs... so many we don't know, but feel we do now.
After a rest, the remainder of the day was very exciting for Travis (though disappointing for Spencer), as he got to go with Joe to Great America Amusement Park as part of a fun, free day for children with cancer and their families to go and totally enjoy. Sponsored by Chai Lifeline, a wonderful Jewish support organization. Travis had an absolute ball -- his first time there. Joe (my BIG boy) had a gas too! They came back tired and happy. Apparently, we can go again as a family (as we had planned) so Spencer won't totally miss the experience.
All in all, a magical day. Spencer is feeling great now, and Travis didn't have any problems with chemo side effects today (YAY!). And lots of people are walking around with band aids on their arms and a full heart. We pray for a match, and for many more beautiful days like this one. THANK YOU, EVERYONE. Words cannot express how we feel...
Love,
Melanie