LOVE IS TRUE,Peace Be with you.Aloha,pablo.

you folks are the best. thank you all so much!

i had a toraño silver exodus in their honor. kinda goofy, but the band is silver and blue; my dad's hair was silver and mama's eyes were the bluest blue. seemed fitting somehow.

for the "long distance memorial herf" 🙂 and for the thoughts and prayers, the posts here, the friendship, the emails, the support -- thank you so much. and to those of you who are thinking of your own parents tonight -- wherever they are -- you have my thoughts and prayers as well.

when i hit the sack tonight, i had a good peaceful sleep (first time in a long time for that). thank you all so much. i pray for you each to have such peace as well.

Sorry to hear what a bad day the 15th has become for you Tony.
I went out and had a 3am ISOM with ya, it was good.

Tony,

I just read this thread, I too have been healing past pains with my father. Might be a little too late as I spent the 15th at the Hospital with him. He was diagnosed with throat cancer and the tumor is in the base of his tongue so the doctors are reluctant to try and take it out at this point. His chances of remission are low, because his overall health is poor.

I was going to smoke a good one tonight and reflect on life for a while (kinda Ironic to smoke when that's what probably got my dad)

I will add you and your family to my prayers tonight.

Keep the faith Bro,

Mike

ony, I didn't read this until just now! I'm off cigars until I get over this cold, but as soon as I'm able, the best Tribute I can think of is a Tribute! And I'll think of my father too while I smoke it. He was a WWII PTO vet also! The prayers for you and them won't have to wait however!

thanks again folks -- hey, i know i am WAY behind in email. i'm gonna probably take some time off from posting, period, and just get back with you folks who've written. i'm so sorry for taking so long; i just like to be a little more in "upbeat" mode (or at least clear-minded) when i write folks personally. you've not been far from my thoughts at all, though.

mike, man, i'm so sorry to hear about your dad. i had an uncle -- great big bear of a man -- who died of cancer, and it was so difficult to watch him fade away. i'll keep your dad and you in my prayers, though. sometimes what we are able to do isn't much, but when we think we can't handle more, we can turn it over to the Big Guy.

bless each and every one of you, and thanks again for your support and prayers and FRIENDSHIP. it's gonna get better from here; i do firmly believe that.

Tony: Your post was a wonderful tribute to your parents.

Regarding, your own possible toe amputation. I assume you are a Type II diabetic, and this is a result of diabetic neuropathy. Are you seeing a specialist in the field? If you are diabetic, are you carefully monitoring your simple carbohydrate intake...pasta, white bread, potatoes, etc.? How often are you testing your blood sugar? Is your weight beyond what it should be for your height? And are you wearing the appropriate foot orthotics? Many questions........

Please take appropriate care of yourself. Advances in the field of diabetic research and treatment have done wonders for the quality of life of those with both Type I and II.

Wonderful tribute Tony. Yes...I will include you and yours in prayer. Many of us share our love and rmemberance of our parents.

I too had a father who, at 16, joined the Navy to fight in WW2. He passed away many years ago.

To you and your family your tribute on this web site was touching and well put.

Thank You,

Ray

Thanks for sharing Tony. Take care and get well.

choner

Sorry to hear this news, and hope all goes well for you! God Bless!

Charlie

Gonna light up a Pedromo Estate Selection Regente Maduro in their honor and yours!

Charlie

Hey Tony,
As always, my prayers, are with you and your family.
Later
Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)

Cavallo...were you a cop? I just wondered since your post describing your disability mentioned "on duty".

I have 21 yrs CHP.

Very moving, and my thoughts are with you. My grandfather fought in WWII and his 'birthday' would have been a few days ago. He died over 20 years ago, but is still the only dad I really had. And I still miss him. Even though a weak heart did him in I know he had the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met. And he was tough SOB Marine at the same time.

again, i can't thank you good folks enough. i'm off to have an MRI tomorrow, and i just gotta say that i feel a LOT more positive-minded, hopeful and just... bolstered up thanks to you B/SOTLs.

all of us came from parents of some kind -- good or bad or a little of both. wherever you're at with yours, i pray that you find a place of peace with them where, when it does come time to say goodbye (and also if that time's come and gone), you can go on with the life they gave to you and live it abundantly and to the fullest!

rayder1: yes, sir, i was. my disability now is mostly unrelated to my on-duty injury though. i creamed my Sacro Illium (SI) joint on duty and took about 1 1/2 years to be able to walk again, but i got about 90% better after injections, PT, chiropracty and lots of teeth gritting. 🙂 but it wasn't okay "enough" to get back on the force. they wanted a doctor to guarantee that my SI joint could NEVER be re-injured. 😛 yeah, right. no one can guarantee the human body to "never" become injured! 😛 i settled with them for back pay lost and doctor bills. dumb, dumb, dumb move.

anyway, it's history now. my back does creak and groan, and i've had a couple of (short) relapses since, but it's nothing like what it was at the time.

thank you for serving and protecting, rayder1!! stay safe out there.

Tony the other night when I went up to the deck.... For Your folks and my mom it was a Havvana Gold Rum FROM ISOM and A Opus X Belicios. Keep your head up buddy

Hey Tony,
I just now happened upon this thread. I surely wish I had seen it earlier but I'll be thinking of you and your parents when I fire up tonight.

That was a very touching story and I thank you for sharing it with us. I know how hard it is for you to sit at the puter and type but you fight through it and spend the time and energy it takes to get it done. I admire your courage and your open spirit. It's easy to see why you are so loved on this board and it is great to see the support you get from so many of the brethren.

You certainly deserve a better quality of life than you've been enduring, I hope all goes well with the MRI tomorrow. I'll be prayin for ya.

Em

I was able to make it to the cigar shop on the 16th...I picked out a AF WOAM and reflected on my parents (both gone), my step-mom (terminal cancer - with a few months or so left), and your parents.

I thank you again for the story. I called my step-mom yesterday. We don't talk often. And it made her day...she had a very rough week and a half.

I can't thank you enough!

:)

Marla

Wow cavallo, really sorry to hear it. You're surely added to my thoughts and prayers. Get well soon.

i just caught up to the tail end posts on this... e-chick, that warms my heart bigtime. i'm glad you two talked and sounds like it went very well!

getting past march 15 is a pain in the butt every year. this year, with the bad news about my health and all, it was a particularly rough one. but i can't even begin to tell you B/SOTLs just how big a difference you made with all your comments, both here and in email.

i want to thank you all SO much -- you've shown me such support and kindness, i'm just in awe. and generosity. my god, the generosity. it's gonna take me to march 2005 to catch up wit'chall! 🙂

my outgoing email's been hinked up, and folks have written concerned that they hadn't heard back about my health stuff -- so just a quick update on that.

the MRI was a bust; still waiting to have it done, and in fact still waiting on getting an APPOINTMENT even. hell, my toe might just FALL off by then. 😛 🙂 (just kidding!)

the good news is that i've been on (yet another) new medication that has actually done a LOT of good for me -- it's taken the swelling in my legs WAAAAAAY down. as a result the circulation seems to be improving -- the wounds on my legs are almost totally healed up now! yesterday was the first day in weeks that i haven't had to have both legs bandaged up, and it feels SOOOOOOO good not to feel like Mummy Man from the knees down. 😃

other pleasant results:

- i'm in MUCH less pain! i guess i didn't realize just how much affected by it i've been until i had a day yesterday when i felt almost normal again. i feel like i won the lotto or something. LOL

- today i was able to walk from the front door down the the end of the driveway! let me tell you, it was PURE JOY for me to take our roller garbage can thing down for collection this morning -- it's been about a year since i was last able to do that. i will NEVER b*tch about such "chores" again in my life. 🙂

- test results at yesterday's appt. came back looking better than they have in a long time, too.

at the end of the day, i'm still disabled. nope, no hope right now of that changing (but still, i do hope and pray about it). and as it is, i still may have to have the amputation. okay. made peace with it.

but right now i just feel SO grateful to be alive, to HAVE a life, and to know that there are these most excellent people who CARE about the life of some dufus eye-talian guy they've never met face to face. and i just wanted to post and share this feeling in me right now of absolute JOY for all of that.

thank you. god bless the livin' daylights outta alla ya's!