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MESSAGE BOARD Archive June 2002

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Sunday, June 30, 2002 -- 20:59:59 (EDT)
Name: lawrie, curt, madi, lexi
Location: Seattle, WA
  • Hi Simon,
    We are so glad to hear that your bone marrow looks good!!!! We love you so much and we will be thinking about you and your family tons and tons as you go for your surgery this week.

    Our neighbor Brian told us this joke.
    "What are the two things that you can never eat for lunch?"

    ...breakfast and dinner

    we continue to hold you in our thoughts and prayers daily,

    Lawrie, Curt, Madi and Lexi


    Sunday, June 30, 2002 -- 20:23:50 (EDT)
    Name: Cam and Joan Borton
    Location: Portland, ME
  • We hold you all inour prayers and hearts, especially Simon and join with your hopes for the outcome of the surgery and in the days ahead. We are Madi and Lexi's Nana and Papa.

    Sunday, June 30, 2002 -- 17:08:01 (EDT)
    Name: sally olson
    Location: seattle,
  • Hi! We're just back from a great family reunion (Sally's family) vacation at a horse ranch in Colorado. It was fabulous. Now home, I was eager to get on my computer and check out the updates. I am so happy to hear the news about the bone marrow! We will be thinking of you and praying for you all week as you have your surgery. Sending much love,
    Sally and all


    Sunday, June 30, 2002 -- 06:15:14 (EDT)
    Name: Annette
    Location: Oakland, CA
  • Hey,

    What wonderful news about the bone marrow tests!! We will be thinking about you all this week, especially on Wed. during your surgery Simon. The whole Williams clan will be in Baltimore on Saturday so we will send you a collective hug. It's middle of the night here in the West Coast and we are getting up to watch the World Cup. Unfortunately we are cheering for Brazil which probably won't make your Dad happy but Brazil is our hemispheric cousin and we are part of the America's right :)? It's on at a more reasonable time in your part of the world so maybe you will be up to watch it too. We too are sorry we won't see you at Crystal but will think of you and swim for you. Happy belated birtday Mary.

    Love, Annette


    Saturday, June 29, 2002 -- 23:21:55 (EDT)
    Name: Tom Schnauber -- Email: tschnaub@umich.edu
    Location: Northfield, Minnesota
  • Hey Simon,

    It sure was a lot of fun seeing you a few weeks ago and getting a chance to play! I was very glad to hear the good news posted on your website today! Anne, Johannes, andI will be thinking about you and wishing you the very best on Wednesday! Big hugs! Wir druecken uns die Daumen! Hope you like exclamation points!!


    Friday, June 28, 2002 -- 16:42:10 (EDT)
    Name: Jacqui Shambaugh -- Email: jacquelyn.shambaugh@watsonwyatt.com
    Location: Oakton, VA
  • What terrific news!! We'll be thinking about you next week, hoping for all those good things!

    Friday, June 28, 2002 -- 10:56:17 (EDT)
    Name: Kris Hopkins -- Email: khopkins@mail.colgate.edu
    Location: Clinton, NY USA
  • Hey, Simon -- just checking in before vacation to get the latest.... BOTH "buckets" came up without any cancer cells?? That's fantastic!!! Wow, is your magic working overtime or what?! We'll be sending all kinds of good vibes your way from the West Coast; and when we return home, we'll look with great eagerness to learn how quickly you bounce back after your surgery. There's more hard work ahead, to be sure. But you're such a pro at hard work now, you can probably even do it with your eyes closed, while you're resting after the doctors do their jobs, cleaning out some of those last, stubborn "balls."

    We'll hold your whole family close in our thoughts, too, because we know it's hard to be waiting on the sidelines.

    Lots of love from Kris, Rob, Emily, Danny, and Laura Hopkins


    Wednesday, June 26, 2002 -- 17:57:51 (EDT)
    Name: Anne, Tom, and Johannes Schnauber -- Email: doyleyad@stolaf.edu
    Location: Northfield, MN USA
  • Wow, it sounds like you have been through a lot these last weeks. Simon, Tom and JOhannes and I are pulling for you here in MA, keep that magic working and working away! IT sounds like Salt Lake was fun, Thomas the Tank engine, in person, eh? Man, we'll definitely have to come visit you out there soon!
    Happy Birthday to your mom, too (I did think about you on your birthday, Mary, driving back to MN, I think I was.) We miss you guys, and had such a great time seeing you in Michigan! I wish we'd had more time.

    lots of love and hugs and kisses,

    Anne, Tom, and Johannes


    Wednesday, June 26, 2002 -- 14:01:40 (EDT)
    Name: jane bishop -- Email: jebish@umich.edu
    Location: Ann Arbor,
  • Hi Simon,

    I've been gone most of the early part of the summer, and just read your upcoming schedule. Sounds like you will be very busy. I hope YOUR MAGIC continues to work, and the surgery goes well! Tell those cancer cells they are NOT WELCOME at your house!! I'll take an extra swim for you in Lake Huron's 65 degree water...Love to all the family...Jane



    Wednesday, June 26, 2002 -- 10:49:00 (EDT)
    Name: Curt, Lawrie, Madi, Lawrie -- Email: curtlawrie@earthlink.ney
    Location: Seattle, Wa
  • We're so appreciate of getting the latest info.
    We'll miss not having time with you and Mariam and your parents this year at Crystal Lake, but we'll all be thinking lots about you. We're going to make sure we do a couple extra jumps from the Sleeping Bear dunes just for you, Simon and for you, Marcus who was quite a leaper there last year.
    Lexi just joined me and is going to do some jumps off the dock "as high as I can" and think of Simon. We also will dedicate several games of duck duck goose to Mariam and Simon.
    Being in ther same State I hope our positive vibrations are even stronger.
    Lexi has a variation on a popular joke;
    Why did the chicken cross the road?
    Why?
    Because he wanted to eat the plants . . .
    We love you and think of you often
    Curt, Lawrie, Lexi and a sleepy Madison


    Tuesday, June 25, 2002 -- 16:35:45 (EDT)
    Name: Gari Stein
  • Hi Simon, I just caught up on what's happening, as I have been out of town. Boy oh boy, you have been busy. I was so happy to see you in class today, looking strong and smiling. It was also fun to see you and your family at Gemini on Sunday. So hot, but so much fun. I will be coming to see you after your surgery whenever you are ready for visitors. And of course, as always I will keep you in my prayers. Much love, Gari

    Tuesday, June 25, 2002 -- 11:57:07 (EDT)
    Name: Karen Merrill -- Email: kmerrill@williams.edu
    Location: Sunderland, MA USA
  • Dear Simon: I'm an old friend of your mom's, and you may remember that my son Theo, who is also 5, sent a card to you awhile back that had either a magic necklace or a magic bracelet on it (I can't remember which.) Well, I can see that you have lots and lots of cancer-fighting magic in you! One of my best friends was told she had cancer 4 1/2 years ago; she had to have a bunch of scans and treatments, but just like you, she's used her magic every day. She always tells me that telling jokes and funny stories makes her magic even stronger, so here's a joke that Theo's best friend Henry told him the other day. It's kind of tricky because of the timing, but now Theo tells it to everyone he knows:

    Knock-knock

    Who's there?

    Interrupting Cow.

    Interrupting cow wh--

    MOO!

    We'll be thinking of you a ton the next couple weeks, and I'll make sure that Theo collects all the jokes he can to send to you later. Give big hugs to your mom and dad and to Miriam. I hope to meet you soon!

    Love,

    Karen


    Monday, June 24, 2002 -- 13:20:15 (EDT)
    Name: Kris Hopkins -- Email: khopkins@mail.colgate.edu
    Location: Clinton, NY USA
  • What an exciting time you all had in Utah! Wow. That luge-slide, in particular, sounds awesome! Sorry you had to check out the hospital while you were there, Simon -- but it's good to know there are caring doctors and nurses everywhere we go, eh?

    Happy Belated Birthday, Mary! Laura's birthday is today, so she sends special now-five-year-old greetings to all of you....

    We've been busy at our house, finishing up the school year and planning some fun summer activities -- in fact, we're going to take a plane or two ourselves this Saturday, so we can go out to Portland, OR to hear some really great barbershop quartet music at the international convention/competition there. We've been getting our ears ready for all that good singing by listening to some CDs at home. One of the kids' favorite songs is one I bet you'd like, too: "Blue Skies" -- we like how joyful and up-beat that song is. When we sing along with the quartet on the CD, we'll be sure to think of you and your upcoming surgery, Simon; and all the happy and hopeful energies we generate by singing about those "blue skies from now on" will be carried on the wind ... all the way to Ann Arbor! Just listen for them, and see if you can hear them. Even if our song is too quiet for your *ears* to hear (we probably can't sing that loud!), I bet your *heart* will hear it. :-)

    Take care. Love, Kris, Rob, Emily, Danny, and Laura


    Sunday, June 23, 2002 -- 15:04:40 (EDT)
    Name: Deidre Browne-Gargasz -- Email: dgargasz@hotmail.com
    Location: Lorain, Ohio USA
  • Dear Simon

    I'm glad to hear that things are moving along in a more positive light.Your grandma was filling me in at supper the other night. I hope that what ever the Dr's next move is won't be to rough on you and that we'll see you in Oberlin sometime this summer looking better than ever. Dylan can't wait to see the hair. Thinking of you and sending good wishes.

    Love, Deidre, Bruce, Andrea, Bryan, Tyler and especially Dylan.


    Friday, June 21, 2002 -- 12:46:49 (EDT)
    Name: Madi and Lexi
    Location: Seattle, WA
  • Hi Simon,
    There are two people here that think the Lite Bright Birthday cake you made (in the May pictures) was pretty amazing.

    Lexi, "Mom, do you think Simon is an artist? I think that cake is really beautiful."

    Madi, "Me too, I like that, it's nice!"

    love you all!


    Friday, June 21, 2002 -- 12:34:06 (EDT)
    Name: Lawrie, Curt, Madi and Lexi
    Location: Seattle, WA
  • Hi guys,
    Happy belated birthday to both of you, Mary and Sally! Simon and Miriam would you give your mom a big birthday hug and squeeze for us and for your dad too for a belated Happy Father's day. Thank you for keeping us so well informed about all that you encounter and learn each day and about what next steps you are facing. We stand steadfast with you, loving you and supporting you as you move forward with Simon's treatment.

    We continue to hold you all gently in our thoughts and prayers daily,

    Lawrie, Curt, Madi and Lexi


    Friday, June 21, 2002 -- 01:14:02 (EDT)
    Name: Mary Craig -- Email: mfcraig@umich.edu
    Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA
  • Thank you, Sally Olson, for the note about my birthday, which was spent more or less in the hospital in Salt Lake. (The romantic dinner at a restaurant in a canyon with Markus will have to happen some other time...)

    Other readers of this message board might like to know that JUNE 15 is Sally's birthday. We grew up as birthday almost-twins (she's a day and a year later (much to her relief these days)). As children, we performed as a singing group called "The Geminis". No wonder we're all so fond of San and Laz as "Gemini".

    I love you, too, Sally!


    Wednesday, June 19, 2002 -- 23:07:07 (EDT)
    Name: Julie Dybdahl -- Email: jrdybdahl@aol.com
    Location: Ann Arbor, MI
  • Best wishes to you all in this week of scans! Simon has been doing so well with this chemo regimen. Hopefully the tests will show continued improvement. Our thoughts are with you all!

    Wednesday, June 19, 2002 -- 12:34:10 (EDT)
    Name: irene -- Email: i.judmayer@oon.at
    Location: Linz, Austria Upperaustria
  • Hi again! We've spent some weeks in the south of greece (that sounds nearly like a poem). But if you think of sun and heat: No chance at all! It was windy, nearly stormy, with rain and thunderstorm and: an earthquake that made us wake up at two o' clock in the morning.
    But the really big thing in this holiday was our boattrip to look at the whales and dolphins. For you in America this might be possibly peanuts, but for us Austrians is the chance to see those dolphins and whales not so often in life. We've been deeply impressed. As the Greek Captain told us, that seeing a dolphin meens good luck in Greece and you could send special wishes with each you see, we sent a lot of sepecial ones to you, Simon.
    A lot of love and hopes. We are sure you crash the saublöde Krebszellen!

    Bussirene


    Tuesday, June 18, 2002 -- 20:59:43 (EDT)
    Name: Sally
    Location: Seattle,
  • I just realized that most people must not know that FRIDAY, JUNE 14, was Mary's birthday! Just wanted people to know....
    I love you, Mary :)
    Sally


    Tuesday, June 18, 2002 -- 20:56:10 (EDT)
    Name: Sally Olson
    Location: Seattle,
  • Hi. Thanks for the update about your trip. I'd love to talk to you sometime soon. I'm just going to give you a few of our latest jokes!
    Knock knock
    Who's there
    Cowsgo
    Cowsgo Who?
    No, cows go Moo!

    Knock knock
    Who's there?
    Repeat
    Repeat who
    Oh, okay, "who who who who who who...."

    Think of you often. Sending lots of love, hope, and good wishes this week. Simon, my longest wish is STILL for your cancer to go away.
    Love, Sally


    Friday, June 14, 2002 -- 01:48:06 (EDT)
    Name: Mary Craig -- Email: mfcraig@umich.edu
  • Somewhat unconventional, but the quickest way to get an "update" onto this site is to use the message board.

    Simon has been doing very well since the end of his last chemo infusion. We were thinking he'd make it without a fever this time, but he spiked one this afternoon and, unfortunately, has a nasty infection in his left ear to go along with it. He's in the hospital, resting peacefully. The usual cultures have been taken, and he'll be watched for several days to be sure he's recovering well. He will probably get a red blood cell transfusion tomorrow.

    Sorry we've been a little slow to put an update in the "What's Happening" page. If you happen to catch it on the message board, then you know what's up. Hope with us for a speedy recovery from this infection!

    Simon has a big week of scans scheduled starting June 18.


    Wednesday, June 12, 2002 -- 00:34:34 (EDT)
    Name: Sandy Piderit -- Email: kep2@po.cwru.edu
    Location: Cleveland Heights, Ohio USA
  • Hi Simon,

    I just read your Mom's update notes from May and wanted to wish you a belated happy birthday! I'm glad to hear that your treatment is showing some progress. I hope that I might be able to visit Ann Arbor sometime this fall with my daughter Julia, so we can meet you again in person. (I remember watching you once when you were very very small, but I'm sure you don't remember me.)

    Please say hi to your dad for me, and tell him I hope he isn't working tooo hard. Perhaps we will see each other at Academy in Denver this August.


    Monday, June 10, 2002 -- 12:34:38 (EDT)
    Name: Lawrie and Lexi
    Location: Seattle, WA
  • Hi guys,
    You are with us and we are with you in our thoughts daily. I know you already heard Amy and Sarah's jokes so hear is Lexi's.

    Why did the chicken cross the road?
    Because she was a nutball. (I'm telling you this one really cracks Madi and Lexi up)

    Lawrie


    Sunday, June 09, 2002 -- 18:34:54 (EDT)
    Name: Liz, Mike, Emma, and Lucas Kennedy -- Email: lizkndy@yahoo.com
    Location: Ann Arbor, MI
  • Hi Simon, Miriam, Mary, and Markus! We hope you are enjoying the "instant summer" here as much as we are. Simon - Lucas says he really had a great time doing Legos and dinosaurs with you! And Miriam - Caspian wants you to come back and pet his fluffy ears again! We think of y'all often, and hope to be able to get together again soon...

    Sunday, June 09, 2002 -- 08:21:45 (EDT)
    Name: Rebecca Cross -- Email: rebecca37cross@hotmail.com
    Location: Oberlin, OHIO USA
  • Hi Simon,
    We haven't written in a while, because we've been so lucky to see you in person in Ann Arbor and in Oberlin over the last couple of weeks. It is great to hear you're getting along well and that your body is staying strong. Our visit to your birthday party in Ann Arbor showed us how many good people there are who love you, just in your own neighborhood! That was neat. We love you & hope we see you again soon.

    I wonder if you're having a gorgeuos sunny day in Ann Arbor like we are in Oberlin.

    kisses and hugs & tiddlywinks,

    Emma & Schuyler's mommy


    Saturday, June 08, 2002 -- 14:32:42 (EDT)
    Name: Ellen Roussey -- Email: eroussey@comcast.net
    Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA
  • Hi Simon! How are you feeling? I'm feeling okay. I have to wear a cast-type thing on my right leg for another two and a half weeks, so I can't move around very well. I kind of limp around. My kids want me to run around and play and take them places, but I can't. It's hard to sit still and stay inside when it's so nice outside, but I bet you have to do that sometimes, too. I'm looking forward to when I can walk without a cast on my foot, but even then I will have to take it slow. Is it like that for you too? Do you have to take it slow for a while after a round of chemo? I hope that you are able to enjoy some of the nice weather we have been having. I go sit outside and read sometimes so I don't miss out on all the fun. I hope that you are feeling well.

    Love, Ellen


    Thursday, June 06, 2002 -- 01:38:07 (EDT)
    Name: Sally Olson
    Location: Seattle,
  • Hi guys! Today Amy and I saw Lawrie and Madi and Lexi at our neighborhood farmer's market! We talked about you and shared some jokes, too. Here's one from Sarah: What is black and white and red all over? ......A penguin holding its breath! Here's one from Amy: Why did the apple tree cross the road? .....because it lost all its apples!
    Thinking of you every day and hoping this week of treatment is going along routinely.
    Much love, Sally


    Wednesday, June 05, 2002 -- 20:21:08 (EDT)
    Name: Porter's Nana -- Email: jaf848@aol.com
    Location: Hubbard, Ohio USA
  • HI Simon
    Porter's Mom told me that you and he were playing on the playground the other day. Porter sure likes to run doesn't he? I'll bet you do too. Porter also likes to plays with cars and play baseball. How about you?
    Have fun in the sun.
    Nana Judy


    Tuesday, June 04, 2002 -- 20:59:29 (EDT)
    Name: Liza Burger
    Location: Ithaca, NY
  • Hi Simon and family!
    I hope you've been able to get out and enjoy some sunshine. We've had some amazing weather in our neck of the woods lately.
    Just thought I'd tell Simon that we had some neat "nature stuff" going on in our neighborhood. The other night when we were sitting out on our screened-in porch, we saw a doe and 2 fawns walk up in our neighbor's back yard. The fawns must have been born just the day before, as they were still wobbly and learning to walk, and had lots of spots. When the doe got startled, she and one fawn left the area, but the other fawn just rested in some tall grass and waited for her mom to come back later to rescue her. We don't like the deer eating our flowers here, but these guys sure were special!
    The other news was that we have some starlings nesting in our chimney. That wasn't as exciting to us, and we tried to have a tiny fire in the woodstove to smoke 'em out before they finished their job, but as soon as the smoke stopped, the birds came back! So, I guess we'll just let them have their eggs and move on.
    Take care, and know that you are in our thoughts and prayers each day!
    Liza, Mike, Jolan and Jenna


    Monday, June 03, 2002 -- 18:47:38 (EDT)
    Name: Lisa Mason McKeown -- Email: masonl@altheimer.com
    Location: Chicago, IL USA
  • Dear Simon -- I am so happy to hear that you had a wonderful visit with your grandparents and family in Oberlin recently! I hope you had a belated birthday celebration with your grandparents. I really enjoyed all of the pictures of you and your family on your website. We have not met yet, but we have a few things in common. For instance, your mother and I first met when we were just turning five years old (yes, we were that age once upon a time!). You just celebrated your 5th birthday last month. My birthday is in May, too. Also, we both like Beanie Babies (I like the cats) and Legos. You sound like you are in very good spirits and full of energy. I want to encourage you to continue cooperating with your parents and nurses and doctors, so that you feel better and better. You are such a good and strong boy and you belong to a huge extended community of friends and family who love and cherish you, and Miriam, and your mom and dad -- blessings abound! I will be thinking good things for you and your family. Love, Lisa Mason

    Monday, June 03, 2002 -- 00:48:45 (EDT)
    Name: Annette
    Location: Oakland,
  • Hey, Been watching any World Cup Simon? I'm sure your Dad was glad to see Germany
    beat Saudi Arabia by so much. I liked watching Cameroon and Nigeria and hearing that Senegal beat France. What a truely international happening. We get the games here in the middle of the night but thank goodness for our latin influence, all the games are on Univision Spanish TV, with most replayed during the day. I know your uncle Dave was a soccer player maybe he's watching? Sometime the US will join the world and jump on this bandwagon but probably not before TV producers figure out how to have TV time-outs during the game. So glad to hear you are doing well. Hear great reports from Grandma/Aunt Lee. Loved the spring photos. We had a great weekend last weekend with Yampa/Uncle Mell and Linda in Tahoe. Check out the web site for new
    photos of the gang. Steve and Mell played the first golf game ever together and loved it. Guess you can never say never. :)

    love ya, A,S & R


    Saturday, June 01, 2002 -- 18:31:29 (EDT)
    Name: Marsha Darcy -- Email: mdarcy@oberlin.net
    Location: Oberlin, OH USA
  • Dear Simon, Mary, Markus, and Miriam,
    It was a pleasure to see all of you over the Commencement weekend. Simon, I especially enjoyed watching you dash through your grandparents' home with such energy and enthusiasm. I have known your mother for a long time, and she is a very special person. So are you!! Keep thinking happy thoughts as you continue with your treatments this week. Love, Marsha Darcy


    Saturday, June 01, 2002 -- 14:13:45 (EDT)
    Name: Mary Craig -- Email: mfcraig@umich.edu
    Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA
  • I've just created an archive file of the message board for May, and here it is June 1. So, I'm posting a message myself just to make it look less empty!

    We are updating the What's Happening page more or less weekly at this point. Things are happening at a slower pace, it seems.

    Life feels less stressful, thanks in part to the decrease in hospital time and sick-feeling time for Simon. The other big piece of the current lower stress level is the amazing help we receive from so many people. Church friend Biff Barritt just turned the soil in our garden, and we were able to plant it today! His wife, Margie, brought over a delicious dinner that same day. Neighbor Jodi Johnson has tirelessly cleaned our apartment for us several times. Church friend Eileen Rodgers continues to be our twice-weekly "laundry fairy". Sandra Walls, also from church, continues to coordinate meals that come on Mondays and Thursdays. Friends invite us to their homes for meals, a welcome respite and chance to socialize. Neighbors and friends provide daily opportunities to send them off with a shopping list. We're pleased to be using grocery certificates that support the new building at our church and the Community Supported Anthroposophical Medicine practice as part of the grocery set-up.

    Interested in joining this throng of helpers? Pop over to the WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP link from the homepage of this site, and you'll find all the information there.

    Thank you, thank you to all, near and far, who lend support and help, including all the postings on this message board.

    By the way, I've been thinking it may be time again for jokes. Simon just wrote a new one (a take-off on a joke that came a while back from Kris Hopkins' family, see the Message Board Archive, February 8, 2002 for the original):

    What's black and white, and black and white, and green and blue and pink?

    [Nothing!!!]


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