Surprises at Every Corner

Yesterday was a great day. For the first time in weeks I felt like a relatively normal 24 year old! You have no idea how gratifying it feels to have a life minus the nausea plus the fun. B and I began the day like any other weekend day: coffee/tea on the deck, breakfast, chatting and the morning paper and then we were headed for the 16th hole, lots of good food and great company.

After forgetting our passes to the tournament, returning to the house, driving to Norton, fighting Labor Day traffic, fighting the ensuing nausea, dealing with quite a few disgruntled teenagers-turned-event-security personnel, we finally arrived at the tent to a sea of very warm, smiling faces from work! While I have had the good fortune to attend the tournament as a spectator, my friends are not nearly as lucky; however, I attempt to provide as much PG entertainment as possible to keep things interesting.

While I was prepared to be their entertainment, they had something different in mind for me: here I am, unassumingly sitting on the patio eating my delicious lunch and this very tall, muscular man is headed my way. My first reaction is move out of the way and try not to ruffle his feathers. Much to my surprise he was coming to see me! After initial introductions, I find myself talking to three-time Super Bowl champion lineman and cancer survivor Joe Andruzzi. 

Joe, who has since beat a very rare form of lymphoma, shared with me his spectacular story and I had the unique opportunity of meeting his stunning wife Jen. Hearing their story, learning of both their strength to get through every day just to know you might have to go through the same crap the next and having the reassurance that all of the emotions I have been having were all completely normal was such a breath of fresh air. It was also amazing to learn that Joe is very involved in helping others. You can read more about he and Jen's foundation here: http://joeandruzzifoundation.blogspot.com/.

After meeting the both of them, I was on such an unexpected emotional high - I would have never thought that my celebrity interaction would have been so up-close-and-personal, I was purely expecting it to be limited to a Tiger siting. Oh, but this was so much better...