The KC Star today...

Here is the latest article from the KC Star. Please take a look. http://www.kansascity.com/276/story/865719.html

Thank you KMBC 9...

Grandma: Part 3 The Conclusion

Kerry's grandma finally received a green light from the U.S. to enter the country. We have been told that all the paper work is done and waiting for her at the U.S. Consulate in Honduras. We are grateful. It took some time but it appears that it worked out, we just need to get her here quickly. Kerry isn't doing so well.

Kerry has been on a ventilator and her situation hasn't improved. The doctors told Claudia that she needs to get better soon or problems could occur. So I ask everyone to say a prayer for this young girl. I went to see her today and she is sick. He poor little body is so swollen. I hardly recognized her. A drastic change from last week. I wish I would have taken a picture with here months ago when she was feeling healthy. I'll just wait until she gets healthy again I guess. My connection with the family is solid and I feel they appreciate me and the effort I've put into helping them get their grandmother/mother here.

It must have been in March or April when Claudia told me she needed help. That was when I decided I would try to help Claudia bring her mother here from Honduras. It sounded easy but the reality is there's so many laws, rules, and regulations that getting anything done is a toss up. Although I tapped resources and worked hard for the family, it was Christina Jasso who did the paper work and followed up. It would have never happened if it wasn't for Jasso.

Today I went by First Watch and grabbed Claudia a cheese omelet, sausage, and a biscuit. When I arrived at CMH the waiting room was packed. Kerry's family and friends were gathered there. Christina Jasso was taking one person at a time back to Kerry's room. She was giving Claudia a break. Her kindness is so inspiring. I think she has to be tired too. This fight has consumed her and she's become attached to Kerry and the family.

The best advice I could give anyone who might face a tough battle with sickness is find the good in the situation. This journey with Kerry has opened my eyes to the random kindness of strangers. The outpouring of support from people who have never met her is unbelievable. The experience has renewed my faith in my fellow man/woman. I was blessed with the opportunity to see good things happen in the midst of an ugly thing called cancer.

I'm done writing about Kerry and her family. It's time for them to move forward privately. My objective was to get a Visa for the grandmother and it looks like we may have succeeded. Since I'm done with my part I am going to concentrate on my family now. For those of you who wonder why I've been writing so much about the family, it was because they needed their story told so others would intervene and help at this desperate time. It worked. I hope that Kerry wins her battle and I encourage everyone to say a prayer for this beautiful child.

Not alone anymore...

I want to tell everyone that Kerry Magana is getting assisted in the Visa campaign from Ted Kennedy and his office. It seems that Mr. Kennedy is part of an oversight committee that monitors immigration issues and this is one of the things, Kerry's situation, that they can help cut through the bureaucratic red tape and intervene. Thank you Mr. Kennedy.

The things that have happened since all this started have been incredible. The outpouring of support has been overwhelming. The person responsible is Christina Jasso from the Guadalupe Center in KC. She took this case on as any other but has moved from a social worker to become part of the Magana family. I joke with her almost daily that if ever become sick or in need of an advocate that she's my girl.

Christina stays at the hospital when she needs to. She delivers food and support daily. I'm sure her family has considered posting her picture on milk containers because she is always helping this family in moments of crisis. Recently there has been many moments.

I believe that it's a blessing when one gets to see acts of kindness first hand. This has truly been a blessing to me. We go through life so often consumed with our own world and seldom take up the cause of our fellow human beings. This is unfortunate because there are so many of our neighbors who need help, not just a handout. I have had my share of downs and I have been lucky to have the right people or person come to my rescue.

So this weekend, this month, or this year I ask you to keep an eye open for someone who needs your help. It might be someone fighting cancer, someone laid off from a job who needs some networking, or a neighbor that needs a ride to work to feed his or her family. For me it was a family battling sickness alone that put me in the mode. Alone. No one should have to do it alone. I have enough resources for the both of us.

This situation has been a growing experience for me. It has led me to new people, new door steps, and a new way of thinking. I encourage everyone to step out of that comfort zone, that routine and experience the incredible feeling you get when you make a difference. I can't say what will happen with this case, but I do know that this mother of a very sick child is not alone anymore. That might be her blessing, knowing she's not alone anymore!

An update on grandma...

We have been blessed with an outpouring of support from the community for Kerry. The KC Star article has really helped us. For me it's nice that other people became aware of this situation. I kept going up to the hospital doing as much as I could but we needed help from the public. The letters and offers of help have been uplifting and has made all this worth it.

Kerry is still out of it as she breath's with the ventilator but we pray she improves. We received a call from the Immigration Dept. asking for additional paperwork so we think it is moving forward. Just how much it's moving forward we'll have to wait and see. A phone call is better than no calls.

When I heard the news about the call I felt so good I can't explain it. I got chills. This help we've been trying to give had a starting point but the end seems to elude us. It has been frustrating. I'm hopeful we can get Kerry's grandmother here now that it has been publicly printed, televised, and talked about. I guess anything good takes work. Say a prayer for Kerry and keep your fingers crossed for grandma.

The newest member...

I'd like to introduce you to Champ Quijas. Champ joined us today as the newest Quijas family member. We wanted to get Christian a companion soon. Champ is one year old and we adopted him from Wayside waiffs. I wasn't sure if we should have a grace period before we jumped into a different dog but I was out numbered. So here is our new dog. Champ Quijas.

This dog likes to ride in the car, doesn't jump on you, and likes the cats. He's a good dog. I hope he doesn't eat the furniture or pee on the carpet. I guess we'll see how it goes. I can't wait to take a walk with him tomorrow.

On a lighter note...

My TV's were featured in the F.Y.I. section Of The Kansas City Star Sunday. The restaurant is Re:Verse on the Plaza and it showed my stainless steel tile design I put on the walls along with InAd's captivating technology.

It was a pleasant surprise when the newspaper called sometime back to ask us about restrooms. Who would have ever thought that I would become an expert in restrooms? Life has a funny way of pulling you out of one thing and putting you in another. Maybe my life was destined to be in the pisser! Ha!
Well it is nice to get recognition every once in awhile. Although they failed to mention InAd TV in the article it is nice knowing that we did a makeover on those restrooms and someone noticed our work.

I sometimes think that I did something here in Kansas City that hadn't been done before and it makes me feel good. I created a TV channel in the oddest place but it has caught on enough that I'm getting offers to expand into other cities. Who knows in the next 3 years I could have my channel playing in 50 states and I could be bought out from Viacom, Clear Channel, or CBS for a Kazillion Dollars and then I could really help change some lives. Starting with my own!

Red tape ties up Honduran grandmother’s attempt to visit teen with cancer

By MARY SANCHEZ
The Kansas City Star

If Jenesis Magana could cure cancer, she most surely would.
She’d take her background as a Kauffman scholar, her fascination with biology, her dedication to the robotics squad and figure out a thing or two. For now, though, she’s marching her tiny frame through the curvy corridors of Children’s Mercy Hospital.
Her older sister, 15-year-old Kerry Magana, is lying sedated on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. Kerry has acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Her body is rejecting the bone marrow doctors injected in September.
And Jenesis is angry. At anyone or anything having to do with her sister’s illness. She even questions medical procedures done or not done.
“I watch those TV shows,” Jenesis says. “There is always one doctor who ” disagrees with all the others and says, ‘No, I think it is this.’
Jenesis makes the remark as a statement. But it is a plea. Where is that magic doctor who will save her sister’s life?
I have no words to explain that her sister’s cancer may not be stopped, no matter how brilliant the doctor. She knows anyway.
Jenesis understands a lot for a 13-year-old. She knows why I’m there, the newspaper lady her mother, social workers and a family friend were told to call because their best bet for getting her grandmother here from Honduras is to embarrass the government into doing the right thing.
This part makes no sense to Jenesis. Or me.

Staffers with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and Sen. Kit Bond, a public policy official with the National Council of La Raza, even connections inside the highest levels of the Department of Homeland Security — all said they would try to help. Ultimately, everyone offered the same advice: Get a splashy newspaper story done.

Kerry and Jenesis’ mother was born in Honduras and is now a legal permanent resident of the U.S. She has repeatedly applied for a visitor’s visa so her mother can come help the family, the last time with the help of a local immigration attorney. The doctors at the hospital and social workers have written letters of support to the U.S. Embassy in Honduras.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has told her that the grandmother didn’t have enough money in her bank account, then that she had too much, another time she was told she had reapplied too soon after a denial. The last time she was turned away without an explanation.
“I want my mother to see her grandchild while she is still alive,” Claudia Cabrera says, in a rare moment of raising her voice. “What do they want, her to die first?”

A single mother, twice widowed, Cabrera is exhausted and anemic. She has passed out twice at the hospital where her daughter has been since Aug. 25.

Nightly she covers herself in a long yellow sterile gown, plastic gloves and a mask to tend to her daughter, changing bedclothes and diapers regularly because of the extreme diarrhea, keeping Kerry’s open sores covered with ointment, begging her to stop fighting the ventilator.

Needless to say, I believe in the power of the printed word. And government bureaucracy is nothing new. Nor are backlogs and the complicated workings of the nation’s immigration procedures. If something is wrong with the visa application, the family needs to be told.

Ridicule by media should not be necessary to restart government cogs. That’s offensive when the issue is bureaucratic. It’s cruel when a young girl’s life may be ending.

When she rises to anger about her situation, Cabrera believes if she were wealthy, she would be able to secure the visa.

Well-placed connections have not helped. Michael Quijas befriended the family after meeting them through his daughter, who was diagnosed with the same type of cancer but is in remission now.

Quijas graduated from Shawnee Mission North High School at the same time as Julie Myers, now head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He has tried to call her office, seeking advice or intervention.

“It’s so frustrating because we’ve tried everything,” he said.

Quijas is among those told that multiple stories done by Kansas City Hispanic News were nice, but not enough. Not even the segments by KMBC-TV reporter Maria Antonia would do the trick. Quijas helped package the stories, along with photos from Kerry’s 15th birthday quinceanera by the Dream Factory, to send along with medical documentation and hundreds of dollars in fees for the latest application — an expedited visa.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says such a visa “usually takes 90 to 120 days from the date of this receipt for us to process this type of case.”

So, at a time when most children her age are being tucked into bed, Jenesis is pacing the halls with me, unloading her frustration. Upstairs, her mother is curled into a ball, sobbing. She has just been told that the ventilator isn’t helping the way doctors had hoped.

Earlier, her mother had taken a pink cell phone from her bag. She tried to show that day’s photo of Kerry to Jenesis, a visual update on her sister’s condition.

Jenesis sharply turned her head away, buried her face under the crook of her arm and began to cry. She hasn’t entered Kerry’s room for a week.

And she doesn’t need a photo to understand what is happening.

Start with a prayer.

I went to see Kerry Magana today. I brought lunch to her mother and got to spend some time with Kerry. She is very sick and depends on a ventilator to bring oxygen to her lungs. She is fighting and I ask everyone to say a prayer for her. We have a Kansas City Star article coming out this Monday. If you get a chance please pick up a copy and look for the Mary Sanchez column.



It is hard to comprehend how tiring it must be her mother. Sickness can wear you out just because of the sickness but throw in that Claudia has been there at CMH for 2 months straight. Kerry is in Intensive Care so what comfort Claudia had in the Bone Marrow floor disappeared when they moved Kerry. Claudia has to sleep with a mask, gloves, and sterile bib. The sounds and beeps from all the machinery would keep anyone awake but toss in that you have to make sure the oxygen mask stays on Kerry's face. So tough.



Claudia has to be there 24/7 so she hasn't worked. She has to feed herself while she is there. That food costs money and I know it can add up quickly. So sad. I can't believe that no one has offered her some sort of food voucher at the hospital. Another tough element in all of this is that Kerry's 13 yr-old sister is having to survive by herself. This means eating alone if her brother is working. She is 13 yrs-old and needs things like all other kids her age. Her shoes have went bad and I know that there's no money for shoes. This young child is frequently at the hospital with her mother and often wants to eat. Her mom doesn't always have the money to feed both her and her daughter. I couldn't imagine. How much can one person take?



It is so easy to listen to these stories and tune it out. If I had to do this alone I would break. If you only knew how stressful it is to spend weeks or in this case, months in the hospital. Those of us who had partners it was still hard as hell. To fight alone is unimaginable. The heartbreak, the financial burden, the fright!



Someday I hope I can advocate for families like Kerry's. It is my calling. I hope someday that I can make enough money in business to free me up to do these things. If anyone can help this mother in any way please do so. Start with a prayer.

Any help is appreciated

I went to visit Kerry Magana tonight. She is very sick and went on a ventilator today. It was hard to see her fighting for her health. I stayed only a minute but I'm glad I went to see her. Seeing a child depend on machinery to breath really makes you conscious of how delicate and fragile life is. Without your health nothing else matters. All that other stuff is insignificant.

It is so upsetting that Kerry's grandmother cannot be here to help comfort the family. The government and their rules are so flawed. This mother of Kerry's has been sitting bedside for almost 2 months trying to be strong but she is worn out. I wish her mother, Claudia, had some relief. We are at the mercy now if someone knows someone in Immigration to help us. This case just isn't going anywhere. We need help.

I ask anyone reading this to please help me if you can. I am looking for a miracle, an angel to step up and lend me a hand. If anyone knows someone or if you know someone who knows someone then please call me or email me. I will provide you any info that you need if you can find someone to look at our file in Homeland Security/Immigration. We are desperate for any help. Time is of the essence.

Trying to help, and coming up short is troubling. You so badly want to ease some pain but it isn't happening. It is tough for me because I know how hard and exhausting the fight is when it involves your child. To help bring someone here to help split the time at the hospital would be worth more than gold. Staying in the hospital for months and listening to the beeps from the tools keeping your child alive is a nightmare and can drive you insane. You have to stay healthy for the fight but how could one person do it. We never stayed more then 2-3 weeks, I can't imagine being there for 2 months. It was only by splitting shifts at the hospital that me and Tammie survived the time we did at CMH. It breaks my heart to think about Tammie and Kaylee fighting alone. It might be that thought that motivates me to do all I can for Kerry and Claudia.

One last Slim Jim...

Today we had to put our beautiful dog to sleep. He was so sick and in pain that we moved the procedure up a day. I stayed up last night until 4:00 am with him because he couldn't get comfortable. His body and spirit went on a major decline since this last weekend. It was tough to watch.

I had to be a CMH this morning at 10 am and we did our thing there. Kaylee had some tough chemo and a hurtful spinal tap. I left CMH somewhere around 3 pm so I could decide what my plan was going to be with Garth. Christian stayed home from school today so he could spend some time with his dog. It was really hard for Christian. But after watching the dog shake uncontrollably he too thought we should end his pain immediately.

It was around 5:30 when he went to sleep. I thought I was going to have to do it alone but Christian said he wanted to be there with Garth. So we waited for Kaylee & Tammie to get home. Kaylee wanted to see him off before we headed to the vet. She has so much going on with her health and her recovery that her view on health issues with the dog is a little less sympathetic then maybe Christian's. When Kaylee arrived home she had an Arby's Roast Beef sandwich for Garth. After he ate that, me and Bubba took Garth through the bank drive-thru to get some of the doggie biscuits they give out. We then proceeded to Quiktrip for one last Slim Jim for the big guy. It was all sad but comforting knowing that we gave him a great last meal.

We cried on the way there but pulled it together when we got in. The wait was somewhere around 30 min. before we were called in. The receptionist kindly informed me when we checked in that Laura Horseman, a great friend of Tammie and me since high school had paid for the procedure. Laura is an animal lover, animal advocate, and animal trainer that knew the condition of our dog and wanted the suffering to end. We have never had to do this before and Laura wanted to make it as easy for us as possible. We thank you Laura for thinking about our family and your generousity was greatly appreciated.

Christian was told he could wait outside but he told the Dr. he wanted to be there. Garth was always afraid of the vet and being left there so I regret that I took his collar off right before the procedure. He looked at me with confusion. I wish I wouldn't have done that. They sedated him and he was very calm. I held him and kissed him and told him how much I loved him. Christian looked the other way until the Dr. told him to come and say goodbye. Garth was very still but when Christian walked up he made eye contact with Christian and that was it. We said our goodbyes and left. Christian wanted me to hold him like he was a little kid again. He wanted the security of his father's hug! Well I gave it to him and he unknowingly returned the love to me by holding me too. I was sad and hurting as much as anyone. The most touching thing for me was that Christian traveled with me so I wouldn't have to do it alone. He is such a kind hearted person. Even though this appointment was the most painful thing he has ever had to do, he went to make sure I was OK! Garth was the best dog any family could ever have. Thank you Garth for watching over my family, I love you.

Today is a tough day. My daughter has to get all her work done in CMH today. Ugly chemo, spinal taps, and hunger. Kaylee is starving and she can't eat until her spinal tap is complete. I brought her in at 10 am for a full day of treatments. If it all went well we would have the chemo then we would follow up with a spinal tap around 2:30 this afternoon. Then after all that was done we would get some food in her belly. The trouble today is everything is getting pushed back because the nurses weren't able to get any blood out of Kaylee's port. Blood work starts our day, usually. This happened last time but a nurse manged to get the blood flowing. Not today!

We have to get blood work done

Amazingly empty...

I'm writing again. It's amazing how I can't find any thing to write about or how I could care less to write when things are back to normal. I say normal in relevance to our lives. My daughter does chemo nightly at home and we still have to journey downtown to Children's Mercy Hospital for spinal taps and aggressive treatments once a month. We will continue like this for years until they say she has completed her protocol but we are normal today for what life has dealt us as a family.

I write when I need to release something. My confusion today is my dog and more importantly my son. My dog is sick and the mood around here is sadness. We've been through so much that this sickness with the family pet is just another marker in our lives. My son was almost unable to go to school today because our dog is sick and he knows what fate he is going to meet in a day or two. I feel terrible. We had to call the school to inform them if he didn't get all his homework done or if he breaks down there's a reason. The school was nice enough to send an email to all his teachers so they would be aware of his state. They came up with the idea and I think they are wonderful to do such a caring thing. I guess it was a preventive measure of sorts.

For me I'm just relieved to have Kaylee feeling great. I was in the trenches for such a long time that I'm grateful for the moment. My son tucked his pain and sadness away when it dealt with Kaylee. He grabbed his dog a little closer and worked his way through his sorrow with the dog. He literally said it was the dog that helped him get through the days and nights when mom and dad were at CMH fighting for Kaylee's life. Now he has to let go of his preserver and I'm sure he feels scared that his post, the dog, is leaving him.

I know all this may seem goofy to most but it makes you realize how dynamic everything is in one's life. A dog. A sister. A family. Security. I feel that I've had the opportunity to see deep inside what makes a family tick. Although it is easier to say that everything works in harmony when it could be me that disrupts that flow. Do I do all that it takes to be the best man? Not always. Do I still gamble on bad decisions? Sometimes. Do I take for granted that an engine or life must run on all cylinders if it's to function normally? Most of the time, but not all the time.

Life has a way of letting you peek in sometimes so you can get a feel of what good or bad lies beneath the surface. We've had that peek and sometimes I measure myself by it. There should never be anything out there that can shake me because I've been shaken too hard. But I do get nervous or scared about things that have zero importance when it comes to the things that I've seen. But somehow I still get fears over business deals. I'm self employed and I get scared over bills and insurance policies. I get those insecurities and I often have people tell me that if they'd been where I've been then they could conquer anything. Well it seems that it should work that way but often the sickness and heartbreak opens your eyes to the vulnerability of your state. So again I say life is funny. What you think would make you the strongest person ever, sickness in your child, can also make you want to become just a normal provider with a normal routine to secure a normal existence.

As simple as it would be to live my life like an ordinary person at an ordinary job, well, it's just not me. I have my eye on doing things my way on my terms. So if doing it my way means that I have to worry just a little more than others waiting for a paycheck from the Human Resource Department then so be it. Some people are meant to be butchers, policemen, and doctors. I was put here for something else. I just have to follow through and steer my course. But enough about me and my path, today it's about Christian Michael Quijas and his dog named Garth!

A tall man's hand

I was just at the grocery store moments ago and passed a short woman trying to reach the top shelf in aisle 3. The product this woman was going for was soy sauce. Me being just 5' 10" I didn't attempt to help this 5' 2" lady. I didn't do it because I was snubbing or ignoring her helpless grasp but I did it because it was too tall for me. As I was watching this lady come up short an extraordinarily tall man came to this woman's rescue. He not only reached the soy sauce, he could see on top of the shelf and rescued lost bottles that had fallen far back.

The reason I mention this unusual observation is for a reason which I'll share in a moment but I have to explain my day first. I was getting ready for work this morning and I was all alone with Garth our dog. He looked so uncomfortable and sick. His weight and muscles in his neck and limbs have disappeared. I took him in 2 weeks ago for blood work and all sorts of other things. The tests all came back negative. The blood work found no cancer and the Doctor has no explanation for the major weight loss. So I felt OK, I guess, because they had no explanation. But I could tell that something was wrong. I gradually saw the decline happening more and more the last 2 weeks but we had high hopes for him. He is 10 years old and I'm realistic about Labs and life expectancy but I have family members scratching for alternatives to the fact that he is growing old. One of my teammates here believes its a chicken bone lodged in his throat. Another has it due to sadness. All sorts of reasoning but the truth is he is old.

I decided to take him into the Vet immediately today because I love my dog with all my heart and felt like I had taken the Vet's word that there was nothing wrong out of convenience. I could do the x-rays and send him to the university for open chested this or that but where does it end. So I had my son go with me to the appointment and the doctor said that his tumor we removed months ago had grown inward into his spinal column and has damaged and infected his nervous system. He is in irreversible pain and sickness.

I asked Christian to step out of the room as me and the wonderful Doctor talked it over. She said it was time to let him go. My heart broke and I could hear my child sobbing in the other room. I explained that I had to take Garth home for all the rest of the family, and so we decided to wait until Thursday so we can spend a couple of days with him. They administered pain medicine for the delay. I can't tell you how hard it is to see my boy cry uncontrollably all night long. He knows it's for the best but he is young.

We decided on Thursday because we have Children Mercy spinal taps on Wednesday and Kaylee is going to be occupied and sick Wednesday. I know that we all have responsibility towards our families and I take pride that I look out for us. I might take more pride in the fact I have a family I get to call my own and a family I can make the decisions for. Believe when I say that I don't make the decisions solely but I initiate the action when I see it needs tending to. Today I wish it wasn't one of those situations but it is what it is. We have to do what's best for one of our family members and unfortunately it means he won't be with us anymore.

So back to the tall man. This man's height was an advantage and definitely an asset at a time when needed. He lent a helping hand to a fellow human being who needed it. I had to lend my hand to my son today because he needed me as he felt more sadness then he has in sometime. I was lucky to be there for him to reach that place he needed me to. It wasn't the top shelf but it was a certain place that needed a special hand to lift his spirits. I can't make miracles happen but I am lucky enough to be called dad and be the one that my child hugged and held as he worked through his hurt. For that I felt honored and I felt like a father who did his job for the day!

John Rossi Ireland

I'm writing a book. My book is called Inflicted. It has to do with my daughter and our journey but it also deals with me. I'm making great strides on my novel and have found that I am going through a reflection period as I navigate through my life. One of the things that I keep coming back to is the influential people who helped shape me and guided me when I was in desperate need of direction. One in particular was John Rossi Ireland.

John Ireland lives in San Diego and he was my boss. I was hired on at first to be the family driver. From there it lead to the shopper for the resort John owns in Cabo San Lucas. The resort is called Rancho Leonero and it is north of Cabo. A shopper is someone that does the purchasing for the resort. Boats, fishing gear, linens, and almost anything you could imagine. Then I became his assistant. Assistant might be too formal but I was like a son who did whatever I was told. John was gone out of the country on average of 3 weeks out of the month. So I was the guy that made sure things were taken care of in the States. I would move his daughter into college, I would pick up jewelry for his wife's birthday, or any other chore one might need someone to do if you were a busy man.

John was the biggest business man I have ever came into contact with. He had his hand in so many business deals that it was amazing just being in the same car, room, or plane. The influence was priceless. His business savvy was next to none but the kindness, generosity, and positive role model went well beyond admiration. It became qualities and attributes I set my sights on. I wanted and still want to live my life like he showed me. His actions and demeanor deeply impacted me and made me. He taught me that business accomplishments are only a fraction of what a man is measured by.

John taught me that being successful in business can happen to anyone but living a good and righteous life is something that takes more work. He believed if you treated everyone with respect and in a fair manner then good things would follow. My first impression of John, before I knew him, was that he made his money because he had money. But it was his teachings to me that money can be made from all walks of life. Good people, bad people, and lucky people can all catch a break. It was his belief that only fair and good people can sustain those good fortunes. If you do bad then it will eventually catch up to you. If you make all the money in the world but don't sleep well then you are only working on borrowed time. A well rested man dedicated to his family can preserve his wealth, health, and reputation by treating everyone with dignity.

John couldn't and wouldn't tolerate pompous individuals. If you thought you were above his limo driver, Michael Quijas, or any of his employees then he would tell you. I remember him telling one passenger that I was more important to him then any business investor because I looked out after him and his family. It made me feel good that he consider me the guard of the family Jewels. His family!

Well I wanted to share my story about the best person I've ever come across in my journeys. I never really got to say thank you to John because he would never have it. Sometimes you can offer someone a slice of bread if they're hungry for immediate relief or in certain circumstances you give someone something that lasts a life time. My time with John was a well of knowledge that has shaped me and directed me to be a great man. So John Rossi Ireland I thank you for teaching me how to be a better man, father, and husband. Thank you.

The picture above was taken on June 23, 1998, exactly 9 years to day that we got official results of Kaylee's cancer. For the record, I was suppose to hold that fish in the air when the picture was taken but my arms wouldn't allow it because I fought that fish for some six hours.

20 Years...

Tammie had her 20 Year High School Reunion on Friday. It was a blast! It was held at the Cashew downtown and we had such a good time. I have to admit that I have had so much fun with Tammie lately. We had the event this weekend and we enjoyed ourselves. We also went to the Earth, Wind, and Fire concert a few weeks ago and it was the best! Last weekend we went out with Tammie's brother and sister-in-law and ended the night at my sister's house with a bonfire and drinks poolside. So much fun. Life is fun when you enjoy the company you're with!

Her class looked really great. Everyone told us that they prayed for Kaylee when they heard about her and the sickness. I think Tammie was really glad to see everyone. Tammie looked really nice and her smile was there all night. I went to the same high school so I knew everyone too. It was a night to remember.

I was so glad that everyone asked about our kid. Everyone had their pictures of their kids and it was nice seeing every one's family. I'm amazed how people start families and move across the country and start extensions of their family tree. We all live life and hope for the best. Life.


I love to see people who are enjoying life. I also like to hear stories of perseverance. So many people talked about their divorces or their first marriage and it's nice to see people who move on and have nothing but good things to say. I kid you not, I didn't hear one bad story from anyone. Everyone had great things to talk about. We had plenty of drink, conversation, and good company to last a while.

Well it is time to go. We hope you have a great day and a terrific week. Please say a prayer for our little friend Kerry Magana, we hope she gets well enough to leave the hospital soon.