Overdue Update!
I didn't realize it had been so long since my last update. Christi's birthday is coming up. She would have been 21 years old on May 12th. Yes, I still miss her every. single. day.
I just finished my year of sabbatical and I would like to thank my fabulous employer, BGSU for giving me that opportunity. I thought with Shayla coming to campus as a first year student, it would be best if I took off for a year so that she could establish BGSU has "her" place, not mine. She also had an incredible year.
We will be picking her up and bringing her home tomorrow for a couple of weeks before she heads to the East Coast for her summer internship. Shayla was incredibly involved on campus, earned all A's both semesters, won some more academic awards, and believe it or not, will graduate with her Bachelor's Degree and her Honors Diploma in December as a 19-year old. She intends to join me spring semester (2019) in Europe where I have been awarded a Fulbright so I will be living and teaching in the Czech Republic. Then Shayla intends to start grad school in the fall of 2019 somewhere back in the USA. Her dream is to become a professor or to work as a dramaturg.
A few days ago I held the 300+ page textbook I wrote while on my sabbitical in my hands for the first time and I love it! I ca't wait to use it with my students. I also want to thank the 47 teachers (my former students) who shared with me their "teacher tips" and "classroom contributions" which enhanced my book. Finally, to the 20 teachers who invited me into their classrooms this year, I am filled with gratitude and appreciation. I learned a ton! I only wish I would have had more time and money to go even more places and to stay longer. Now I am preparing for my summer classes which begin May 14th. I hope all is well with you and yours!
posted by the Thomas team @ 7:44 AM
7 Comments:
Happy 21st Birthday Miss Christi!
I wonder how beautiful you would look, all grown up. But someday, when GOD'S perfect timing is up for my life, I will seek you out in HEAVEN, to finally meet.
You remain on my heart and I pray about you daily, as well as your family.
Love to you,and your family.
Big John
Happy 21st Birthday Miss Christi.
I wonder how beautiful you would look,all grown up.
Someday, when GOD'S perfect timing is right, we'll meet up there in heaven, for a hug.
I continue to pray for you, each day, and your family as well.
Love to you,
Big John
Thanks for the update - it is always so lovely to hear your news. I hope the whole Thomas Team are having a lovely summer.
Angela
I was a regular reader and supporter of Christi’s journey back in the day - including sending you some parcels along the way. I return occasionally to see how you all are. Your post last year touched me and I’ve just been back through all your posts from the beginning until Christi’s funeral. I totally understand how you might feel that you put her through unecessary suffering, and it’s brilliant that you have been able to reflect and think these things through. However, reading through your family’s life with Neuroblastoma, as it was presented by your writing, it doesn’t read that way. And of course, hindsight is always easier than what you were dealing with at the time. It is clear you did your absolute at every turn to find the the treatments that might cure her, and, later, that would give her as much life as possible. Yes, some of your reasons at some point may have been selfish - but as a parent, we all suffer from that need to spend as much time with our children as possible. What shines through your writing is the amount of love and support you all have for each other, within your nuclear family and your extended communities, and how you tried to do the best thing for Christi whenever and however you could.
I can only imagine how painful it is to lose a child. And how extraordinary it must have been to parent someone as brilliant as Christi, and then lose her. The extraordinary personal energy you’ve now put into your own professional career, as well as supporting Shayla, who is clearly another extraordinary young woman, is inspiring.
I hope your sabbatical is restorative as well as stimulating. Than you for all you’ve given to those of us who followed you along the way, and who sent small levels of support to you all as you dealt with the unimaginable.
Hello,
I used to follow your blog several years ago. I now work at the University of Pennsylvania and I recently met with a student that I wanted to share with you. This student is a PhD student in cancer biology, and specifically conducts research on neuroblastoma at CHOP. She is preparing to apply for jobs in cancer research, and I was helping her to prepare for potential interview questions. I asked her how she stays focused on her work when the work is hard and challenging and so many experiments and ideas don't pan out. She talked about the cafeteria at the Buerger Center, and how she generally avoids it as it is full of bald children and is simply quite sad. She talked about how when she begins to lose focus, she will visit that cafeteria. And how she needs to be reminded that every cell line she works on belongs to a child who died, a child who is likely missed by many beyond measure. And how she looks at these children and their parents in the cafeteria and thinks about how these parents would do ANYTHING to help them and to save their lives. And she thinks about these cell lines and can imagine their potential to help some of these kids. So she digs in, goes back to her lab, and feels motivated to get back to work.
It was pretty amazing to me that someone so young and without children herself could think like this. I was so impressed and I think the people that interview her will be, too. I thought you might like to know that even years after you spent time at CHOP, people are still hard at work in labs trying to solve this puzzle. Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year Thomas team. Thanks for still updating us on your lives and sharing your many successes. Congrats on the book, what a great use of a sabbatical. Wishing you all the best.
Go Shayla!
Just checking on the Thomas team after thinking of Christi today.
Cheers from au.
Colleen - Kaitlyn’s mum
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