Ten Years June 27, 2008
Dear Friends,
Back by popular demand, I am finally writing on this blog again after a break. It wasn’t really a break; it was more that I was doing frenzied catch-up with emails, and spending my time organizing my house and training for the Transplant Games, which are in 2 weeks! So, I didn’t have time to blog… So much has happened- I went to Philadelphia with Ana for another CF education day talk, I have been training at the track twice a week with my friends Tom and Tiffany, I’ve been practicing pipes like crazy(two weeks from now I will have finished playing my bagpipes at the Donor Recognition Ceremony at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!
Anyway, It has been an eventful few days. On Tuesday night, after my important bagpipe band practice to prepare for the July 4 parade in Piedmont, I took at 10:30pm flight to Las Vegas, Nevada! I normally hate Vegas, because I detest gambling and that is where my childhood best friend Karen died (it’s in the book). The last time I flew into that airport, Karen greeted me and snapped photos for our last summer vacation together in 1990. So there are a lot of bittersweet memories.
Anyway, I stayed in the gorgeous Venentian and kept thinking, “Why isn’t Andrew with me?” We could have renewed our vows in Vegas! A drug company invited me to speak on Wednesday morning, and I squeezed in the 12 hour visit with my busy week. I stayed in a gorgeous suite and felt like a queen for my 6 hours of sleep! I spoke at 8am and it was well-received. It is so nice to have a chance to say THANK YOU to the people who work so hard to get our drugs out to help us live. Novartis is the title sponsor of the Transplant Games so of course I went crazy with effusive gratitude for their generosity. I played my bagpipes for the group just for fun, and though the reed didn’t cooperate at first, it sounded ok for an out-of-tune, not-warmed up pipe.
When I returned to my room, I received a call from a dear friend to inform me that my friend Siobhan had lost her battle to CF. We cried together and felt it was so unfair for this 26 year old to not have a chance to breathe freely. Siobhan was a girl I met when she was 9, at CF camp. She stopped coming in the last few years because of MRSA, but we spoke occasionally. She started calling me more regularly after her good friend, and mine too, Kathy, died last September, and she wanted someone older with CF to confide in. How privileged I was that she chose me! We talked about her beagle and my basset beagle, and her travels, college graduation, etc. Two weeks ago we talked, because she called me to say she was on the top of the list and really nervous. We spoke about her goals and dreams post-transplant, how she wanted to work and become independent and take care of herself. She had such a hard life but had a wonderful foster family who loved and provided for her in material and immaterial ways. Last weekend, Siobhan had a lung bleed, was put on bipap, then the vent. She was on the top of the list but couldn’t hold out. I haven’t seen her in person in a very long time due to MRSA, but it breaks my heart that she is gone. It just seems so UNFAIR. Of course, I wonder why I was so lucky to get called when I was on a vent, and that this miracle should happen to everyone in those circumstances. She had such a hard life, a thousand times harder than mine, and if anyone deserved some redemption from suffering, she did. I know I’m rambling, but it is so sad when someone in our shoes- with CF- doesn’t make it, doesn’t have the chance to have the life we are enjoying post-transplant.
Anyway, I rushed out of Vegas and flew to Los Angeles, where my husband Andrew picked me up from the airport. We had planned to get away for a few days for our ten year anniversary. Can you believe we are celebrating ten years??? I cannot! Time has flown by. We came so close several times to not celebrating another anniversary. Again, I feel soooooo privileged to celebrate this moment. It feels like a rare event to be so happily married for this long, and for us to still be together physically.
Andrew and I celebrated by going to the George Michael concert at the Forum in Inglewood, California. The last time I was there was June 1990 for Phil Collins with Karen. Andrew and I indulged in heavy soul food at the fabulous Soul Food Kitchen on Manchester before the concert, and then rocked/swayed the night away to this sexy singers’ voice. It was a fabulous concert, with amazing stage lights and screens. We went to bed late and I was exhausted.
The next day Andrew and I met some colleagues and friends, including one who is helping us secure a Japanese publisher for our book- please keep your fingers crossed. We napped in the afternoon like an old married couple, and then met my wonderful parents for a luxurious meal in Century City. I must’ve consumed 4000 calories that day! We returned to our luxurious hotel in Century City, and crashed out again for a long night’s sleep.
On Friday, June 27, 2008, was our actually anniversary. I remember my wedding day exactly- the time of our photos, when we did the makeup, etc. I was surrounded by my best friends in life- some of whom are no longer with me… but some of whom are alive and well, like Ana, Michelle, Nahara, Becca, etc! Thank God for transplantation! I’ve met so many more incredible people in the last 10 years, and my pool of friends just keeps growing. How privileged!
I gave Andrew a photo book of our top memories of ten years. We’ve seen so much! In just 4 years, we’ve traveled to two Transplant Games together, to Spain, Japan, Norway, Austria, Germany, and hiked the Grand Canyon, Half Dome, we sang in Carnegie Hall together, we did the Seattle half marathon and 199-mile Relay together… I get tired just thinking about how much we’ve done! It is so much fun to look back and reminisce. We saw our wedding video and marvelled at how skinny Ana and I were- and Ryuta (my brother) and so many of my other friends! Ten years of weight gain!:) On Friday we “relaxed” all morning and then worked out in the gym, doing a 5K run on the treadmill, weights and then I swam a bit. Then we went out for a nice Indian lunch near the Westside Pavilian. I have so many memories of each corner of the LA. That mall is where I had my last meal with Akemi and Naomi, my two best friends who left for Japan in 1986. We then saw a film called “The Garden” as part of the LA Film Festival. It was suuuuch a fabulous film and I totally recommend it to anyone with social conscience who is interested in urban planning and social justice. After the film, we returned to the car and did not find it. It had been towed! After calling the posted number, we learned we had 20 minutes to get to the towing center 1 1/2 miles away. Andrew started running down Pico while I called a cab and tried running in my impractical feminine shoes. That’s why I hate being feminine- pumps and heels are not meant for active people. I trotted down Pico trying not to sprain my ankle, until I found a cab, and picked up my sweaty running husband near Barrington. We picked up our car 5 minutes before they closed, after paying $150. Then we raced to our dinner reservation at Spago’s, a fancy restaurant in Beverly Hills. We actually made it, only a few minutes late! We were so grateful that our car impounding didn’t interfere with our plans:).
Our meal at Spago’s, Wolfgang Pucks’ restarant was amazing. We had the tasting dish and had about 7 different plates- fish, decorated with quail egg, sorbets, mascarpone cheese pasta, lamb, and scrumptious strawberry kaiserschmeren. I love to eat and this food was the best I’ve ever had. I also sat across from Jason Priestley, which doesn’t matter to me, but it was cool to see someone familiar.
Our evening ended with a bottle of champagne in the hotel room. I could only handle 2 glasses before feeling miserable. Alcohol and I don’t go together. I skipped my sporanox that night for obvious reasons! Andrew presented me with a gift- a dedicated brick at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, where Ana and I loved to visit in May.
Yesterday, we slept in and then took a short walk to the Hollywood sign while I played my bagpipes. It was a warm day and I had never been to the nicer neighborhoods in Hollywood. We also drove by Andrew’s childhood home in Northridge, before picking up burritos for the 6 hour drive home. We arrived at home safely- thank God- by 8pm for a home-cooked meal.
I am so grateful to be married to my best friend, and it makes such a difference to slow down and spend quality time together. It is hard to escape our rat-raced lives but it is so necessary for our soul connection that couples need, even 10 years after marriage.
To all of you who’ve been part of my married life, I am so grateful for your support. I guess now the whole world knows what kind of man I married because of the details in the book. I don’t know why I’ve been so lucky. The love- and random compatibility- just happened.
I hope you all had a great June and I wish you health, good food, safety, and gratitude for being alive this summer.
Love to you all-
Isa