1 coin + 1 pair of gloves = ...

Well, what they actually equal to me is more than I can articulate. (Yes, I have been left speechless. Shocking, I know. Most of you thought that would never happen.)

Ok, upfront honesty here before we get going. The support we have gotten from everybody has been absolutely incredible. The reason I haven't said anything about it before now is simply because I didn't want to single out any one thing someone has done for us because invariably there will be something that someone does that I will forget about and wind up accidently hurting that persons feelings. Many people have done many wonderful things for us, most of them are things that we never would have expected, and we have thanked them in one way or another, just not publicly. What I got in the mail today from my brother, Steve, and my nephew, Nick, though just has to be shared with everybody. Once you read, you'll understand why.

Here's the story:

When I started my radiation, I found out that one of the things I have to do is keep a board in place under my feet. This is done so I don't move. Well, the way you keep this board in place is to hold it there by a rope. The rope has handles on its ends that resemble the handle of a shovel. After a while, they get slippery and it just starts to hurt the fingers. Needless to say, they are NOT the most comfortable things to hold in place for 20 to 30 minutes. I'm laying there on the table as I'm getting my radiation thinking, "There is no way I'm putting up with this for six weeks. There has to be a better way to do this." After a day or two of pondering, the solution came to me; gloves. Not just any gloves, but batting gloves. So, I think to myself, "self, where can you get batting gloves from? Yeah, you can go and buy a pair of them at the sporting goods store, but those would be new gloves, not broken in and no real sense of success. I need gloves that know how to win. Where can I get a pair of batting gloves that fit the bill?" In a flash it hit me. Nick. I can call Nick and see if he has a pair of batting gloves he's not using. Actually I talked to Steve, who talked to Nick and brother did they ever hook me up. It wasn't batting gloves that Nick sent, it was his football gloves from last season. These gloves are "winner gloves". The reason they are "winner gloves" is that last season Nick was a sophomore and it was the first season for his school and its football team. Not only did Nick make the Varsity team as a sophomore, he played in all aspects of the game; starting on offense (wide receiver), defense (cornerback) and special teams. He did it all and he did it all well. He scored his first touchdown and did alot of other things with these gloves and for him to lend them to me means alot. I'm going to have to take care of them so I can get them back to him when I'm done. He also took the time to sit down and write a note of how he felt like a winner when he did what he did while wearing the gloves. Nick doesn't say alot, so for him to do something like that means alot to me as well.

The gloves weren't the only thing in the envelope. Tucked in with the gloves was a folded up note from my brother, Steve. As I start to unfold the note, a coin falls out. A Challenge Coin. Not just any kind of challenge coin. It was a Hamilton County Police Association S.W.A.T. Challenge Coin. For those of you that don't know, my brother is a police officer for the city of Wyoming, Ohio (that's a suburb of Cincinnati). He has been with them for 12 or 13 years. For 10 or 11 of those years, he was also a member of the Hamilton County S.W.A.T. team. In order to earn one of these Challenge Coins you have to show "courage and commitment above and beyond the call of duty". Needless to say, there aren't very many of them out there and for him to pass something this special on to me is deeply moving. The note itself is also deeply touching. Why would a note touch me? Well, in some ways Steve and I are complete opposites. Whereas I could talk on and on and on, Steve is a man of very few words and he often lets his actions speak for him. For him to sit down and write a note of encouragement to me and send it with the gloves and coin means the world to me. The note and the coin is what actually left me speechless and teary eyed. Katie was moved just as much by it when she saw it and read the note when she got home from work.

These two gifts I have been given say so much without saying a word that no word or words really seem to fit. Appreciative, grateful and humbled could describe some of it, but I think the word that fits the best is blessed.

Citius, Altius, Fortius.