First off, Happy Belated Thanksgiving to everyone! And thank you for all the kind wishes that I had received in turn. Over the past seven years that I had lived in Los Angeles, Thanksgiving had become one of my favorite holidays- next to Christmas. I fondly look back on last year’s Thanksgiving and feel immense gratitude that we were able to celebrate that day together with Tyler at home in San Pedro. By that time, we had transferred Tyler out of the hospital down to his parents’ place.

Dennis and I went into our usual routine: Prepping the Turduck. We’d get up in the morning and with scalpels in our hands, both of us would start deboning one bird each. Last year I had climbed up the food chain in the Turduck prepping hierarchy; from being the novice- working the small bird- to being allowed to tackle the big bird. One has to celebrate the small achievements. Here’s a thanks to you Dennis! In parallel, we started on the stuffing, which was hilarious on its own. Dennis’ attitude is “the more the merrier”, whereas I am more selective. In the end, we found a healthy middle ground (i.e. a “no” on orange juice, but a definite “yes” on beer). Armed with yarn and needle we then assembled and sewed the two-bird concoction into a tight bundle with stuffing leaking left and right (we like stuffing) and put it into the oven. At that point, the kitchen looked like a battlefield (according to a neighbor who had come over to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving. They opted for Mary Calendar’s. It’s amazing the feast you can get delivered. Again, one has to love the US- and no I’m not being sarcastic here). We tidied up the worst and went for our traditional pre-feast run along the San Pedro cliffs.

Throughout all this cooking action, Tyler was in the living room, nestled on the couch, watching us, listening to our chitchat and negotiations around the stuffing. He then told me that he loved hearing us laugh and having a good time. It was balm in my heart. Though precarious, the world was still whole, as he was still with us. Though Tyler couldn’t really eat, we made sure to have the Thanksgiving party tray of ice-treats ready for him as well.

At any given point in time, either one of the three of us would be on ice treat patrol. As most of you know, at that point, Tyler had trouble eating solid food and keeping it down. Instead, to get him his calories and nutrition, we’d help him hook up a liquid IV nutrition over night. Nonetheless, one of his favorite treats became the so-called ice-treats; little cubes of frozen sodas or fruit juices or a mix thereof. Tyler didn’t ask for much. Maybe we all wished he had asked for more, as all of us wanted to help and make things- life- better for Tyler. So here was something that would make Tyler happy- and we all jumped into action. In the process, our ice treat manufacturing skills improved, so did the material, and with it the client’s reviews. We found the perfect little ice cube tray, which in combination with a mini funnel produced just the right treats- accordingly to Tyler’s expert opinion. His taste for different flavors tended to change, so we had to adjust on the fly (not that easy, as it takes a while to become frozen). We diversified the offering, and came up with completely new cocktails to satisfy Tyler’s palate. Amongst his favorites were Cranberry juice mixed with Sprite, plain Coke- that was a staple, and plain Sprite. Plain Cranberry juice tasted good, but didn’t give the right texture because of the lack of CO2. Ginger Ale was a favorite for a period of time to change up things a bit, Cherry Coke- didn’t last too long, Fanta and other orange-flavored beverages weren’t the hit and were dismissed accordingly. We had a little conveyer belt production going- we’d pour several variety trays during the day and store the treats in a container in the freezer. So that when Tyler had a craving for a certain flavor we’d have it on hand. It was too cute and we all cherished that Tyler gave us something to do for him to make his eyes light up. He was very particular about the amount and type of treats. It was either five or seven, but never four or six treats. With the most adorable puppy eyes he’d ask, ‘can I have seven more?’ Of course you can, you can have as many as you want…

And then of course, dinner was lovely and very special. The Turduck was cooked to perfection, the stuffing yummy (the final negotiations paid off), sides were great, and ice treats were well done. Well, this year’s Thanksgiving was rather different: I was at work and had Muesli and oatmeal for dinner. Nonetheless, I had wonderful conversations with friends and family on the phone and felt very lucky that so many of you shared your Thanksgiving experiences and feasts with me. So here’s to Thanksgiving and to family!

Here's to you Tyler!

Abrupt change in topic: It has been a while since my last blog entry. A lot has happened and I wanted to take the opportunity to provide a little update, starting with the recent one first. (Disclaimer: For all of you who may not know me that well, there will be sarcasm in some of the passages below and thus, not to be taken literally).:

Los Angeles Cancer Challenge 2012

Unbelievable, so many of you turned out to join us again on this year’s team Tyler. Dennis, Yvonne, and I were incredibly touched and very happy to see so many of our friends and family come together to walk and run in memory and remembrance of Tyler. We had participants travel from as far as Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, even the UK, and greater Los Angeles (not to be dismissed- one never knows what can take longer, the 405 or a cross-country flight). Thank you. Thank you all.

As in past years, Nate brought the Long Beach Polly Girls Cross-Country Team up for the day. They had to rest as they had an important race coming up the following Thursday. But thank you for the moral support! I got to chitchat with some of them and in turn, they invited me to join them for the upcoming Moor League Finals at Heartwell Park in Long Beach (I’ve probably butchered this- my apologies, Natan and Becky ☺). I actually managed to make my way over the next Thursday to watch them in action and to rock the 5K: Jessica Gonzales broke the record from 2009 and racing as a team (Jessica, Sara, Mari, Georgia, and Maddy) they broke the 2009 team-record (and that with a half-broken finger…). What a performance! Well done, girls!! And then of course, Becky brought heaps of her marvelous and delicious granola bars to this year’s LACC 2012 race. Given that so many people by now look forward to this annual treat, maybe we can post the recipe on this blog (unless it’s an old family secret).

It was amazing to see all of you together and to get the chance to catch up. I think I speak for both, Dennis and Yvonne, when I say that we tried to talk to everyone of you. I felt like a puppy at times, not knowing where to turn next. And trust me that was a good thing. I was thrilled and super happy to be surrounded by such a wonderful circle of people.

Okay, that’s enough of the soft talk; let’s get down to business. We did incredibly well in the 5K- easily sweeping first place as team Tyler. Spence, Ross, Nate, and Alex came in the top 10, closely followed by Gardner, Tom and Amy (go Amy- amazing!!!). Real solid performance!

Unfortunately, we couldn’t repeat our double-victory from last year. We ended up coming in second in the 10K. We had two strong front-runners, John- flown in from the UK- and his friend Daniel, who clocked in 14th and 3rd overall. Then, there was none for a long time until Tiana and myself. I can’t speak for Tiana, but I can’t seriously be relied on to play an integral part in the overall group time. I’m happy if I come hobbling over the finish line.

Assessing our running potential, we could have taken first in the 10K as well. For next year, I see room for improvement and a definite optimization of our forces. Tom, I leave this responsibility with you. I’ll admit, I’m only good at trash talking and giving advice, but I will hand over the strategy and the tactical execution to you. If you want, I can make a PowerPoint slide deck…

Again, thank you all for coming out and join us that day. It was so great spending time with you. We appreciate that you took the time to be with us, we really, really do. Tyler would have been extremely proud and touched, seeing all this love and care.

I think pictures can tell more than a hundred words. So here are some impressions of the day:

Tyler- during the LACC 2010:

This year's group picture:

Left close ups of the group picture:

Middle close up of group picture:

Right close up of group picture:

Dennis, on to round 2:

Ross and Natan approaching finish line:

Natan and Ross, strong finish:

Tom LA:

Amy:

Polly Cross Country Girls:

I miss you hubbily...