The bride was breathtaking and I have the pictures to prove it!

Yesterday my daughter's wedding day finally arrived!  I have a few photos that someone took and posted to Facebook, so I'm going to post them here.


The rehearsal on Friday night went smoothly.  A funny moment was when the parents had to go up on the altar and each light tapered candles.  So Gene and Jane (parents of the groom) and Greg (my ex) and I walk up the steps to the altar.  The priest tells Greg and me that we should be showing love and affection as we do this.  I turn to the nun who is helping with rehearsal and say, "Doesn't Father know that we're divorced??"  Later on, Father tells us to act like we know each other!  LOL!!  Too funny!


Rehearsal dinner was good!  Hot roast beef sandwiches and baked ziti with meatballs and salad.  Fresh fruit, cheese and pepperoni  and crostini as appetizers.  One of Gina's friends made a really fun cake out of Tastycake tandytakes! (if you're from the greater Philadelphia area, you'll "get" this!)   What fun!


We woke up early on Wedding Day because all the bridesmaids, the bride, the flower girl and mother of the groom had appointments to get their hair done.  My daughter, Dani, just finished hairdressing school, so she did Gina's hair.  The salon owner was kind enough to give Dani a station to work while the others were getting their hair done. I did my own hair since it's so short.  


We got back to the house for lunch and to get ready for the wedding.  I kept my cool all the while Gina was getting her makeup done and getting dressed.  Her Dad showed up around 2 pm, took one look at her in  her gown and started crying.  YES!!  He cried before I did!  Gina asked me to get a box out of the closet and bring it down, and THAT'S when I lost it!  When Gina was Christened, someone gave her a hankie, sewn into the shape of a bonnet, with a poem attached.  She was supposed to wear the bonnet at her Baptism, and then, when she was getting married, to carry it on her wedding day (ok, I'm getting all filled up just typing this!).  I saved the hankie for Gina all these years, and when she got engaged last year, I gave it to her, in the original box!  Then I forgot all about it.  So, when I got the box out of the closet, I just lost it!  So silly to be affected by something silly like that!


An amusing incident.  I bought my shoes and bag at DSW.  On Saturday morning, I showed the shoes to Jane (mother of the groom).  She informs me that she has the exact shoes in silver!  A few hours later, when Greg and Pam are at the house and I'm putting my shoes on, Pam tells me that she was going to buy those exact shoes in silver but chose another pair instead! And all of our dresses coordinated too.  I wore light blue, Jane wore dove gray and Pam wore dark blue and it was a complete coincidence!

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

 My son is escorting me down the aisle.  

The ceremony went off without a hitch.  The church is just lovely and Gina's good friend, Morgan cantored the wedding and she did a magnificent job!  Morgan has a gorgeous voice!  I guess Greg and I showed enough love and affection because Father seemed pleased with our performance at the candle lighting ceremony.  Hahaha!!!

 Here comes the bride!

 Gina with her dad, going down the aisle

 my daughter, Dani, a bridesmaid

the bridesmaids

I did get a little tickle from something.  At rehearsal, only people directly involved in the wedding ceremony were permitted to be there, so Greg's wife wasn't there.  Greg was sitting with me in the pew.  On the day of the wedding, she sat in the row behind us and he went into a bit of a panic because he didn't know whether to sit with me or sit with her.  He sat with me.  Hehehehe  I think if John was there, sitting in my pew with me, Greg would have sat with her.  But John chose not to go to the wedding (the jerk).

 saying their vows

 the deal is done, and sealed with a kiss!

lighting the Unity Candle

The reception was held at the Clarion Hotel (Greg worked there as the food and beverage director when Gina was a baby, so we got some extra special treatment.)  Open bar for 5 hours, sit down dinner, good food, drinks were flowing.  The featured drink of the bride and groom was a Lemon Drop Martini.  I think I had 6 of them!  They were yummy!!  They must have been weak ones because I never got even close to being drunk!  I felt fine all night, although I would not have gotten behind the wheel of a car.


The DJ was AWESOME!!  Her name is Jenny Z and she sometimes works at the radio station where Gina and Gene work.  Jenny mostly works at a sister station in Maryland since it's closer to her home than Wilmington, but she has a DJ business on the side.  I was very happy when Gina told me that Jenny was working her wedding!  Some of the other DJs were there as guests.  


A friend of Gina's made the cake.  The cake topper was the bride and groom high-5-ing each other.  My daughter, Dani spied the cake in the corner and realized the bride and groom were standing side by side on top of the cake, in what looks like a Nazi salute (Heil Hitler!)!!!  She quickly found a server and asked her to fix it!  I wonder if anyone got a "before" shot?  By the way, the cake was scrumptious!!!  Bibi did a fantastic job!

 this wedding cake was yummy!

 a close-up of the topper

she got him good!

When it came time to throw the bouquet and garter,  not sure how it happened, but the ring bearer and the flower girl were the big winners!!!  Hahaha!!!  Patrick put the garter on Leah's arm! 

the bouquet and the garter

The reception lasted until 11 pm.   We had 17 rooms booked for overnight guests.  The bar was scheduled to close at 9 pm (apparently Saturday is the slowest night of the week).  Greg slipped the general manager some dough and asked her to open the bar for the overnight guests, and they did!  We had that place filled and hopping until the wee hours of the morning!  The father of the bride got rather drunk, and I'm happy to say I never did!  He had to go to bed, which was disappointing because he was paying for my drinks!  I still did my fair share of drinking (Captain Morgan and Diet Coke) and even did 2 shots (I NEVER do shots!)!  My son bought me a Mind Eraser (kahlua, vodka and club soda), and my niece's fiance (and our wedding photographer) bought me a Dirty Girl Scout (vodka, Kahlua, Baileys and white creme de menthe)  It tasted like a thin mint!  I finally went to my room around 2:30 am. 

 these were taken with my cell phone.

Gina and me!

my favorite son-in-law and me!  

 my daughter, Dani and me!

my son, Tim and me!

Gina and Gene had the Bridal Suite for the night.  This morning she messaged me to come downstairs for breakfast.   And Gene called me Mom.  It made my day!   And on Monday, they leave for a week-long honeymoon in Aruba!

Update: John's 6 month PET scan

Yesterday, John had an appointment with Dr. Sunita Nasta, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania to get the results of the 6 month PET scan to see if his cancer has returned or not.  For those of you new to my blog, you can read John's full story here.  You can also read more of John's story by clicking on the Label, CANCER SUCKS on my sidebar.


** NOTE:  my brother Michael describes a PET scan (positron emission tomography)  as this:  they make you drink nuclear shit and then they x-ray you, similar to a CT scan.  If anything lights up, you probably have cancer.   


Anyway, about 2 weeks ago, John had his semi-annual PET scan done.  We drove to HUP for his appointment.
When he had his appointment in October 2010, Dr. Nasta leaped into the air as she popped into the room, with a big grin on her face and pronounced YOU ARE BETTER THAN EVER!!!  


Not so much this time.


Yesterday, she walked into the room, no smile on her face.  Oh shit.  This isn't good.


She told us that the scan showed 2 very small nodes, less than a centimeter in diameter each.  For those of us Americans who are not metric literate, a centimeter is about 1/3 of an inch. Teeny tiny.  


But they lit up and that's not good.  One in the groin, one in the neck.  They are so small she couldn't even feel them.


She asked if John had been sick recently or had a fever.  Nope.  He has lost about 10 pounds since his last visit.  He does get tired and often falls asleep when he gets home from work at 4 pm.  


So John had 2 choices.  He could get an ultra-sound and she'd then do a biopsy (on a teeny tiny node that she can't feel), or John could get another PET scan in 6 weeks to see if they grew and to also see if they light up again.  He opted to get the PET scan at the end of June (6 weeks will have gone by since his last one) and see her again on July 6.


There is a possibility that the lighting up was a fluke caused by a fever or virus that John wasn't aware of.  Or the scanner in the lab is new and maybe a little "enthusiastic" in his interpretation of the scan.  


So, now John has an appointment on June 28 for his scan and then an appointment on July 6 to get the results.  If the scan shows the nodes are cancerous again, John will have to start yet another round of Chemo.


We went to the Potbelly Sandwich Shop to grab a bite, since John had been fasting all day.  While we were there, we discussed it, calmly.  Again, we are taking a positive approach.  This is another battle in this war called Cancer.  He's not going to let this get him down.  Hopefully, the next test will be a good one and we can relax for a few months again.   If not, well, I guess I'll be driving the Schuylkill Expressway into Center City Philadelphia quite often again.   I think I should get my AAA membership renewed.

One Word Wednesday: Gift

GIFT

This week's word is Gift.  Today I want to talk about the gift of life, in particular, the incredible gift that John was given last year, the summer of 2009.  


John was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma in June 2007.  It was all down the left side of his body, in his neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis.  John underwent 6 months of chemo and went into remission. Over the next 2 years John's cancer came back twice.  He had his spleen removed in Jan 2009.  

Three months later it was back.  He went to the University of Pennsylvania, where a Lymphoma specialist told him she could do a stem cell transplant and get rid of his cancer once and for all.  She was going to completely destroy John's immune system and then do a stem cell transplant to build a brand new immune system, using John's own stem cells!!  However, it was a dangerous treatment and it could possibly kill him.  If the chemo didn't kill him, he could possibly develop Leukemia 10 to 20 years down the road.  John said,  "You can give me 10 to 20 more years?  Let's do it!"  Who know what strides the medical community can make in 10 years?


The summer of 2009, John went through 3 rounds of very high dose chemo.  He handled it like it was nothing!  His bone marrow was still good, so they harvested his own stem cells for transplant in August.  

John, recovering at home after the transplant, Sept. 2009

John was supposed to be in the hospital, following the transplant for about a month.  He was released in 12 days!  He entered the hospital for the last round of chemo and transplant on August 21.  He went back to work on September 21!!  John's re-birthday is August 28, and we celebrate it every year!  

John, boogying with my daughter, Gina at my niece's wedding October 2009

He looks like Daddy Warbucks!

John was getting PET scans every 3 months for a year to check to see if his cancer has returned and so far, it hasn't!!  It's been 16 months and John's been cancer free all this time!

John, October 2010 just after learning he's till cancer free!

Dr. Sunita Nasta has given John the gift of his life!  We appreciate every day and celebrate John's good health!

Jill, at Jillsy Girl is the host of One Word Wednesday.  Every week, she gives us a word to blog.  We can write a story, post a picture, a poem, a song.  Whatever we want!  Check her out!!  You can also see what everyone else is blogging about too.

One Word Wednesday: Dynamic

Dynamic

 I was having a hard time coming up with something, besides Batman and Robin for the word,  Dynamic.  Of course, you all know that Batman and Robin were known as the Dynamic Duo!

Then I did a google search for The Dynamics and found this band and some of their videos.  The Dynamics are a French band that does covers of many popular American bands.  I thought their version of  Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love was pretty cool! Give it a listen and tell me what you think.

Jill, from Jillsy Girl, our host at One Word Wednesday is getting some real life stuff done and Sally from  Sally G. has been gracious enough to host One Word Wednesday for the next few weeks.  Check these ladies out, they're awesome!!