Family Life and Friendship Network

Friends and Family,

I'm writing my 2009 newsletter late this year because I wanted to include the holidays at the end of the year. As all of you know, 2009 was a year filled with the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life. There isn't a whole lot new that I can say beyond what's already on my blog. This newsletter and blog post will bring together those posts, and add a little more.

We started out the year with some hope. Julie's cancer had stopped responding after a year of treatment to the chemotherapy she was on, but we hoped a new treatment would work. When it didn't work, we tried one more time with an older, proven chemotherapy. It proved ineffective, and by then Julie made her decision to live the rest of her remaining days with as much quality as she could have, and I fully supported her decision.

In April, I wrote a letter requesting help with many of the biggest things we face as a family. The response was overwhelming. Friends came from everywhere to help us out. Some I had not seen since high school, 18 years ago. Two weeks later, on May first (my dad's birthday), we were on the news with Alex Cabrero. That very night, she started having seizures and we didn't know if she would make it another week. May third Julie's family all got together for one of the most spiritual days of my life, where they all shared loving stories about Julie's life with her. The following Friday, a professional actress threw a surprise birthday party for Avalon 2 weeks early. Later in May my sisters threw a bake sale to help raise funds to help our family out, and it was announced in the Magna Times/West Valley News, and Deseret News.

The first half of the year was hard, but the second half was harder. Julie passed away in July. I posted her obituary, the funeral transcript, and even a recording of the funeral. I soon learned that although I was happy for her that she was free and independant again, I was sad for me, and I missed her still. We celebrated Hiram's birthday, Thanksgiving, Juie's birthday, Christmas, Benjamin's birthday, and New years the last three months of the year. We did our best to make a big deal out of each of these things just as Julie would have done, and to find joy each time. I anticipate 2010 will be a difficult year, but we will get stronger, and we will make it the best year we can.

Thank you to all my friends and family for the tremendous support you have given, for the good times, and the love and tears we have shared together. Thank you for helping me and my family through our greatest crisis. Thank you for being my friends and my family.