So many people came. So many amazing, wonderful people.
My grandparents drove up from Texas to attend and a few of their friends from the area came.
Old friends from high school and their families came.
Nearly every member of the Harris family found their way there: aunts, uncles, cousins.
My sister in law Lauren invited her parents, who invited their neighbors and friends from their church who came as well.
Many people from my church came even though it was on a busy weekend and during the middle of the day. Even both sets of missionaries from my ward managed ways there.
My first grade teacher, Mrs. Prine, who taught Tom, Patrick and I came.
Many people from the DQ came. My boss and his boss, even Nikki who hired me when I was 16.
Dr. Ward came! My surgeon, Dr. Ward, was there the whole time. My mom had a ton of fun showing him off to people.
Outpourings of love like this make me almost grateful I got cancer. I have never before seen so many people act so selflessly and give so much. And for me to be the recipient of this love is pretty astounding.
The food was so yummy. Steak and chicken and ribs. I'm sure there were some vegetables in there as well... but do those really matter? There were over a dozen raffle prizes donated by local businesses.
Dairy Queen. Your Michigan Connection in downtown Northville. Home Depot. The Marquis Theatre. Stingers Bar & Grill. Salon Unity. Tubby's. Tilt & Sons Landscape.
As I was drawing the winners of the raffle prizes I kept drawing the same names. I was worried people would think that it was rigged. It wasn't, I promise.
Thank you everyone! All those that read this blog, thank you, for being a part of this journey. Thank you for your prayers, they have helped more than I'll ever be able to fully realize. Thank you for helping me with this financial burden obligate with having cancer. Thank you to all those that stepped in so selflessly to insure that I don't have to handle this weight alone.
And finally some pictures from the event....
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| Th Outback Steakhouse in West Bloomfield where it was held |
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| My cousin Ryan and his wife Lainie, who hosted the luncheon |
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| My Papa Don and Tobias |
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| A picture my grandma took of me greeting people that my mom totally photo bombed |
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| My brother Patrick and his family |
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| Patrick, Lauren and Tobias |
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| My cousin Randy who helped greatly with everything |
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| My brothers and I with Mrs. Prine, our 1st grade teacher |
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| My Aunt Kim and Uncle Jim |
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| My brothers with Tobias and Tori |
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| Erica, me, Matt and Jordan |
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| Tom and Jennifer |
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| My Uncle Randy and cousin Ryan |
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| My Aunt Julie and I |
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| My cousin Alex and Aunt Nancy |
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| This is the hawaiian shirt my dad picked out. Lovely, right? |
I guess I am 'cancer free'. It's incredible how short this journey was. 6 months! Only 6 months from finding that pesky bump on my neck, being diagnosed with a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, being re-diagnosed with a high-grade myxofibrosarcoma, a couple surgeries, 6 1/2 weeks of radiation and a benefit luncheon to cap it all off. All that's left are checkups. 1 MRI every 3 months, 1 chest x-ray every 3 months (we want to insure it still isn't in my lungs) for about a year. Then every 6 months. Then every year.
So once again. Thank you all. I can't imagine doing this on my own and I'm so grateful I didn't have to.
P.S. I got a call from my genetic counselor and my cancer is not genetically caused. I don't have Li-Fraumeni syndrome!
