Wow...Just Wow! What an incredible night!
The plan was simple. Dinner at Cliffbreakers, then off to Franny's for a cocktail with a couple people from NH Rockford. Nothing crazy...right Mark? NOT SO MUCH. :)
So, we met Mark at Cliffbreaker's in the Bar before dinner. We had a drink and then the hostess came and got us for our dinner reservation. I was still excited about Mark flying in to see me that I didn't even notice that we walked right by the dining room. Cliffbreakers has a lot of little private rooms for dinner and Mark indicated that he got us one of those. We stopped at the Vanderbilt room...Mark says "I love ya bro" and pushed me in the room. I walk into the room and could not believe my eyes...Close to 50 people, friends from throughout my adult life... all of them staring back at me. I am not sure how long I stood there in awe...it felt like 10 minutes...Just looking at the faces, tears of happiness welling up in my eyes.
I couldn't believe it so many friends all there to see me. The range was awesome..My Best Friend Denny from High School who flew in from Atlanta, the core team of NH Rockford, the core team of NH Chicago, my close friend Gil from my NH Days who flew in from Atlanta, Clients and close friends from Caterpillar that drove 3 hours in from Peoria, a good friend from NH days who drove in from Wisconsin, my closest friends from the area (including darling Miss Ava), my partner(who has been on the road for weeks but took time away from his family to be there), JB & Mark who flew in special from Phoenix, and so many more...
Mark literally planned and executed the absolute surprise of my life. I literally felt my knees start to wobble and jaw hit the ground. The fact that I stayed upright and didn't pass out was a miracle itself.
Kim comes up next to me and says...Oh by the way, we are staying here tonight. Two of my close friends from NH Chicago Kory and Tammy couldn't be there, but wanted to help, so they paid for our room. Unbelievable doesn't even do it justice. Thank you guys so much.
So, not only did he bring everyone together, he had a plan. Knowing that there are two hobbies that I enjoy the most, golf and poker....he planned a poker tournament for during this party....and for those that didn't play poker... CRANIUM! Johnny D....its OK I found the correlation of Cranium and my situation absolutely PERFECT and hilarious...Hell if I can't laugh about my situation by now, then I have a bigger problem. :)
How Mark coordinated so many people and kept it all a secret is amazing. Kim has started to fill in some of the gaps, but it still boggles my mind. You pulled it off in perfect form my friend. Thank You!
Steve Foor helped take the experience to another level by putting a DVD together with pictures and music from our NH Rockford days. It was amazing.
There were at least a dozen other cameras and video cameras there as well, so I will post pics as soon as I get them! If you had one of the cameras, please send me pics!!!!
Did I tell you how amazing this experience was? I was in the room around 6:45pm and spent the evening until almost 1:00am catching up with my unbelievable friends, hugging everyone that I could, crying, laughing, and saying WOW alot! I even played decent poker, which I can't believe because my attentions were all over the room all the time. I tried to give a speech on the fly before the poker started, and I said a few words, none of which I remember. I know I wanted to say more, but in the emotion of the moment, there was no way I was going to get the words out.
It truly warms my heart and blows me a way seeing so much love and support for me in one room. I could only dream that I have been able to touch this many people in my life. Add the prayers and positive thoughts that just the people in that room have sent me and continue to send me...its no wonder I feel so damn good! With this kind of support, I am gonna have some flabergasted Doctors as I continue to heal and wreck the curve of stats for my type of Cancer!
When I say, a Night to Remember...A Night I'll Never Forget, I think you can understand what an understatment that is.
To each and everyone of you that attended last night...>THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!! I do not have the words to express how much last night meant to me. You are all absolutely unbelievable and I love you all! Last night strengthened my drive to beat this disease. I am stronger because of each of you. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.
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6 comments:
My dear friend Steve,
I sit at a desk in Virginia tonight reading your words (Yes...I really did have a business trip this week)....remembering last night, and seeing your reaction and the faces of all of these beautiful, wonderful friends that were there for you. This was as much for all of us as it was for you Steve. It was SO EASY to do. It was all about bringing all of that amazing energy together in one room, for one night. There were SO MANY more people that wanted to be there that had conflicts and just couldn't make it...but there were all there in our hearts. Gene, Dan, Shelley, Susie, Scott, Ross , Kory and many more.
Thank you to everyone that helped make this night real...Steve Foor for the presentation. All of those taping and taking photos...we will find a way to post them all online as soon as we have it all together.
Thank you to all that braved the cold to come to little old Rockford, IL for an amazing night.
Thank you to Kim who somehow kept this all under wraps...I know it was hard to do.
And thank you to Steve...for being Steve and for truely being the life of our little party in Vanderbilt 2.
ROCK ON Support Team!
Marky P
Steve,
I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It was absolutely amazing to see the friendships you have made since we left high school.
As many of us probably did, I found myself constantly trying to envision what your reaction would be like when you walked in the room. It was so cool to be there and be able to experience it first hand. It was better than I ever imagined.
I think one of the highlights of the evening for me was having you talk to my son for a couple of minutes on the phone. As I told you that night, both my boys, Austin (13) and Tylor (11), include "Dad's friend, Mr Steve" in their prayers every night. Putting a voice with the name and pictures they have seen, was very special to them - and to me.
Thanks Steve. I love ya man. - Denny
Sorry I could not make it Steve. It looks like it was a great event.
You are so deserving of the love that was poured out on you this weekend. There's lots more where that came from! Mark Patrick - you are an angel sent from heaven to all of us!
...and I quote... "The fact that I stayed upright and didn't pass out was a miracle itself."
I for one am SO glad you managed to remain upright....it would have put quite a damper on the festivities if we had to step over you on the way to the bar... ;-)
It was a WONDERFUL time and I'm so glad to have been there!! Kudos to everyone who participated. To fill in a few more planning gaps...it was so cool that people just kept coming up with ideas...from Steve Foor's video show to all the cards to sign, to the t-shirt, to the LIVESTRONG bands to the coatrack :-) all kinds of people made it happen....although, credit where credit is due, Mark was the catalyst and you were the inspiration.
So great to see you there, smiling and happy and not leaving too much cash on the poker table.
Enjoy your break between treatments. Draw energy from this weekend and share pix as they come in.
~Val
March 8, 2008 will go down as a legendary night for all of us there and the many others who were there in spirit. We can all relive through the photos as you get them on your blog! Steve...make that moment and picture one of your happy places, there was so much love in that room,it will keep you forever smiling and strong!!! You are loved!
Saw this today and thought of you...
What cancer cannot do
Cancer is so limited.
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot destroy peace.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot surpress memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot steal eternal life.
It cannot conquer the spirit.
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