2009 Christmas Letter

Greetings!
As always, I hope that this letter finds you and yours safe and well.
Our house has been anything but calm! The first 7 months of 2009 were very challenging for our family. I was not dealing well with the “Empty Nest” and was wondering what I was going to do with my free time. After sending Mallory to Italy to study abroad for 4 months, Ralph and I began to consider all the house projects that were needed, the idea of joining a gym, and the thoughts of bicycling. Well, as the song goes, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans”; He had different plans for us. On January 12th, Ralph was diagnosed with multiple myeloma…a treatable, not curable, cancer of the blood plasma. It eats the bones. “If He brings us to it, He will carry us through it”, and He did. On August 12th, after 4 rounds of chemo and a stem-cell transplant, Ralph was cancer free! We pray for the longest remission possible! Now, Ralph is part of the research to “pay it forward”. For his benefit as well as others with myeloma, he seems to be probed and prodded frequently. His work and golf days are fewer and less intense, but he has a new appreciation for other matters. With help, he had a successful deer hunting season. We created a Blog to inform friends and relatives of our plight. ralphchicone.blogspot.com/
In the midst of all that, based on family history and the fact that atypical cells were found during surgery to remove a papiloma, I am considered high risk and am being monitored at the Hillman Breast and Ovarian Cancer Center. As a proactive defense, I am taking Evista to block estrogen from my breasts and am examined every six months with yearly mammograms being diagnostic.
What matters most…all three children are healthy, safe, and happy! No one has moved or changed companies, but Megan is another step closer to agency. Their personal lives are blossoming, and their academic lives have broadened. Mallory hopes to be attending grad school in Pittsburgh, next fall, to become a speech therapist. We picnicked around our new pond and putting green, this summer, and celebrated birthdays! Cirque Du Soliel was entertaining! Thanksgiving was served at our house, and Ralph and I took the girls to see the Rockettes in Pittsburgh. We have enjoyed a few Sundays at Michael’s and Erin’s and our house, as a family and with friends, cheering on the STEELERS!
Yes, our lives were interrupted, and we met many challenges this year, but with the support of family, friends, and our community we are well on our way to recovery. We like to think that we have become better people and that our family ties are stronger because of our quandary. It seems that some things that really mattered are no longer important, and that other things that we took for granted are the most important. Hopefully, 2010 will be happily eventful, and we will be back at the beach for vacation!
From the bottom of my heart, I wish you and yours nothing but good health, safety, and peace! Be content when things seem to stay the same for change is not always welcome. Bask in the sunshine, and if it gets cloudy or storms, may you be given the guidance, courage, and strength needed to endure.
Keep the faith!