What? A Post? It is! (UPDATED WITH A NEW LINK)

 Updated 3/14/21:  Here's the link to our new blog.

The Adventures of Andi and Darrell

Brain cancer is...

Laguna Beach, Celebrating Five Years of GBM Surviving and Thriving

..is one part of life's adventure.

Brain cancer is a very big part of our life, for sure.  And it's a part that won't go away.  Ever.  But it is just one part.

After a few post-blog weeks of talking with you, Team D members, individually, we came to see that a blog can be a conversation starter.  And that we can listen in addition to talking via the blog.

Even though we've stayed in touch with many of you separately, we miss you collectively.

The end of this blog felt like a break up, and who needs a break up, with everything else going on in the world right now?  Not us!

Several of you encouraged us to keep writing in some way.  Here are some thanks that come to mind:

• Thanks to everyone who told us it was okay to move on. 
• Thanks, Gail, for telling us to keep our writing spirits alive.  
• Thanks, Kim, for asking for assuring us you'd keep reading even if we wrote infrequently.  And thanks for requesting a faux blog experience. It was a funny and helpful transition.
  
• Thanks, Ginger, for suggesting that writing about our own small adventures might encourage others to have their own.  
• Thanks, Curt, for threatening a peaceful protest in support of the blog. 
  
• Thanks, Christine for using the word "grateful" in response to past posts.   
• Thanks to people who said "Good idea.  I might read it" when we floated the idea of a new blog.

So...Let's do it.  Let's move on with life's adventures.

Darrell and I are starting a new, less frequent, blog to continue reporting The Adventures of Andi and Darrell.

We just made our first post today, 3/10/21.  Ready for the adventure?  Here's the link.

Life's an Adventure.  We hope you'll join ours!

 

The Final Post

Readers Note:  This post has links back to past posts. We don't interrupt the flow by calling them out.  Look for red text or underscores for hyperlinks if you're interested.

Brain cancer is...

...signing off.

Above you see Darrell and Andi Guillaume in our spot on the point at Big Bear Lake.  

We took the top picture a few days before Darrell was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) in 2016.  When we took that shot, we had no idea what was lurking in the left hemisphere of his brain.  We headed down to the Emergency Department, and then we chose that pic for our first blog post.

The bottom picture is us on our recent stay, five long years later. It's fitting that the blog end where it started, we think.

Those are photos of two of the most fortunate people we know.

Imagine having the worst thing in your life happen one day--a bolt out of the blue.  Then imagine dozens and dozens (hundreds!) of good, good people immediately surrounding you and lifting you up with their love and support.  Imagine them letting you cry.  Imagine them not giving advice, just listening.  Imagine them letting you talk about things that don't matter anywhere else (like how many times a day you eat sandwiches or the misdirected hype of a banana stand).  Imagine them opening up and sharing their perspectives and stories with you.  Imagine living a life with absolute certainty that you are not alone.  

Now get this:  That's real.  All of that happened to us.  

Maybe our outer shells look different in those contrasting photos, maybe not that much.  But who we are on the inside has certainly changed in five years' time.  We have learned so much about so many things.  We've had some of the very happiest days of our lives. We have had adventures that we never anticipated.  We have known great love.  From you, Team D.

Today is our 1827th post.  Out of those nearly two thousand posts, here are five that we think sum up the story thus far:

• 2016  The Wave (3/10/16):  This was the year of living desperately, the year of Life 2.0.  In this post, you told us that we saw before us was indeed breathtakingly terrifying, and you told us you wouldn't let us face it alone.
• 2017  Post Traumatic Growth (4/30/17) After the initial shock, treatment, and adjustment, we learned that it just might be true that sometimes what doesn't kill us can make us stronger.  And more observant and appreciative.  And better humans.
• 2018  So This is First Class (8/31/18): We learned to live like there's no tomorrow...at least once in a while.
• 2019  Darrell's New Role: G'Pops (10/08/19): Enter Nova B., stage center.  Three years after diagnosis, we truly appreciated that we were receiving a second chance at dreams that we thought evaporated the day of Darrell's diagnosis.
  
• 2020  Won't You Be Our Valentines? (2/14/2020):  We discovered joy on a type of adventure that was new to us: long car trips and national parks.  Post-treatment anxiety had ruled out this type of adventure until then. This post shows that, wherever we go, we take you with us...in our hearts (Valentine's Day pun? Ugh. True nonetheless.)
  
• 2021  Virtual Super Bowl Stroll (2/07/2021)  We all took on a challenge together, with Team D's typical heart and humor.  We all showed our fortitude and ability to connect and succeed, no matter what the world throws at us.
  

We know that for every event in our lives, there have been hundreds in yours.  We've been through a lot together in the last five years, haven't we, Team D?

We hope that we have shown that we strive to learn, to wonder at the world, to be open to the human experience and the stories of pain and happiness of the world's people.  We hope we have shown that we appreciate the fact that there's always another perspective, another way to view things.  Another way to do things.

That's why this, the 1827th post, is our final one.  Today is Darrell's five-year cancerversary. By some estimates, Of every 100 of his agemates diagnosed with GBM on Darrell's diagnosis date, 94 are gone. 

Dang, Darrell.  That's quite an accomplishment!  Welcome to a new era:  Long-term survival with GBM.

The blog--your reading of it--has meant so much to us.  We do not have the words to express our appreciation.  The only way we know how to face GBM is with the blog.  But a new era deserves a new approach, say Captain D and First Mate A.  We embrace whatever is next in this totally unpredicted, uncharted adventure. 

It feels like time for us to stop looking down at the keyboard and to look up for new ways to stay connected, loved ones.  If we keep filling our time with the familiar, we have no time for new approaches and ways to converse.

You've been listening for five years. That is a lot of effort on your part.  Thank you. 

Goodbye, blog.  What do you want to do next, Team D?

 

(Readers Note:  We plan to leave the blog up, so you can still see old posts, just in case you need a little time to adjust to the idea.  Ha ha. You can always search "brain cancer is...andrea guillaume"  Also, you can always find us on email or cell. Let's keep being together! Keep those ideas coming!  Keep us in the loop of your lives!)

Today’s Bloom

Here's a hibiscus from Kristin's backyard.  OOOooh!

A comment on the  "Today's Bloom" feature:  We started posting daily blooms 10 months ago (3/15/20) in an attempt to find little bits of beauty in the world when we were all newly sad about COVID.  

That's how the feature started, but then we discovered that Matisse's words were right:  "There are always flowers for those who want to see them."  Maybe you'll keep looking for the day's bloom?  Maybe you'll share it with others? Maybe with us?

Super Bowl Stroll(s) 2021

 Brain cancer is...

...crossing the finish line after dark.

For today's stroll, we walked the sun up this morning and then down again tonight.  Check out our finish line, above, after what turned out to be 26.5 miles.

Christine!  Where could we put in a request to have a fancy finish line for each of life's goals? 

Typically people walk different chunks of the stroll with us, but COVID-19 changed that for this year.  Fortunately Tiana, Alex, and Nova were able to do a solid 4 miles with us. Here we are in the cold this morning:

 

Tiana pointed out that Nova has never missed a stroll.  She kept her streak going today. (And Mommy and daughter strolled in matching sweaters.  Too, too cute!)

Here's one more pic, this one facing the sunset some time during the final couple miles. Yahoo!

 

Close to finished, Yorba Regional Park

We may have been mostly walking solo today, but we were definitely not walking alone.

Virtual Super Bowl Stroll 2021

 

In honor of Darrell's amazing accomplishment of surviving and thriving with GBM for five years, 100 Team D members contributed to a virtual Super Bowl Stroll, walking alongside us and sending their best wishes.  Darrell saw the virtual stroll for the first time today during the walk.

 

Here's the link to the 30-minute video:

 

Team D's Virtual Super Bowl Stroll 2021

 

The heart, soul, and humor that people invested in this video are so incredibly special to us. 

 

Thank you to everyone who contributed to wishing Darrell well today, both those who appear in the video and those who were cheering elsewhere.

 

Parallel Super Bowl Strolls 2021

 

Meridyth and Eva joined us for the stroll in 2020 and had every intention of doing so again this year.  Again, COVID. 

 

Not to be deterred, they each held strolls in their own locales.  And they are willing to share! Wahoo! 

 

• Eva and friend Darah led the pack by walking a marathon on the streets of Philadelphia.  Check out the Penn campus and other great sites.  Here's the link to Eva and Darah's Philly Tour. (6 min)
  
• Meridyth and her friends Trish and Dorothy did their own special stroll:  A 0-degree Wisconsin weather triathlon with snowshoeing, cycling, and hiking.  Here's the link to the I Will Survive triathlon. (2 min) 

 

VERY impressive, friends!  Thanks for the inspiration, for the great sights, and for making it happen.

Walk on, Team D!  Walk on!

Today's Blooms

Red Monkey Bush, Carbon Canyon Park

Bartending for Nova

Darrell here again.

Brain cancer is...

 ...Nova getting used to G'Pop’s fancy bar tending.

Another wonderful day with Nova (oh, and Tiana and Alex).  When Nova shows appreciation for drink with a smile or a vocalized "yum" for G'Pop bar-tending, he's willing to make her drinks all day!  Above she is enjoying my delicious non-alcoholic "mule."  

Wait for her to "Cheers you" and see how it melt you heart.

Cheers to appreciating the little things we do for one another, Team D.  

Also Big Hits Today

The cork table

"Finger" Painting

Nova decorated our snack bag for the last leg of tomorrow's Super Bowl Stroll.  Can't wait!

All tucked in and ready.

Today's Bloom

 

Nova, meet park.

Brain cancer is...

...thrilled to share.

Today was the day to share our park with Nova B.  

Her favorite animal is "duck," and she met her first real ones today.  

Here she is spotting a coot.  A tiny bird dork.  Hurrah!

 

She also used her new collecting bucket to pick up sticks.

There were lots of scenes we won't forget, like these:

2.5 girls enjoy the view.

We also had a great time with the "Eric Carle-style Painted Paper" project

...and an even better time at the sink after-party.

We have one sticky note left for tomorrow: edible finger painting.  Hurrah!

Happy Friday, Friends! Enjoy your sink!

Today's Blooms

A Bruising Schedule

 Brain cancer is...

 ...welcoming Nova to vacation planning, Guillaume style.

Tiana, Alex, and Nova arrived for a few days of vacation with us last night.  As you see, above, Nova was greeted with a sticky note schedule.  

That's how we plan vacations:  Lots of sticky notes with ideas. The notes can be arranged, discarded, or supplemented as the day unfolds.  

So far so good!

 1.  Fort building?  Good start!

2.  Duplos?  Check out portable wall by G'Pops.

 3.  Author study over breakfast: Eric Carle.

4.  Going off schedule, which doubles the fun:

Applause for the hat party

Making mixed media art:  First draw, then sit on the work while painting.

Kitchen stool/sea animal play

We had a perfect day of sticky notes and not sticky notes.

We hope your day was both sticky and not...and more of each tomorrow!

Today's Bloom

Every day's a good day for lilies.

Dining With Family

Darrell again supervising.

Brain cancer is...

...enjoying  breakfast with LuAnn,

...and lunch with Gordon.

Once gain, we had great day with family!  We saw both parents for meals and stimulating conversation about COVID vaccines and the future, politics, money matters, and family histories.  

Funny how I can be always right on all topics...

We hope you enjoyed some time with family, Team D. And that you were correct on all counts.

Today's Bloom