Dear Family and Friends,
So another year comes and another year goes. It is now 8 years since our Amie left us. How quickly the time goes! All we have now are memories (thank God) lots of wonderful memories and old pictures. I try and not think of the awful years spent at Dana Farber in which both Amie and Lenny received chemo. The nurses coming into the room completely covered so they do not get the poison on them. BUT what I do remember is that poison gave Amie 11 more years of life. 11 more years of hugs! Of Memories! The chemo only gave Lenny 2.5 years without pain. However without the chemo he would have been in terrible pain. So this is the day I look back and think that without Dana Farber and all the research Amie would not have had 11 years of life, laughter and hugs. And Lenny would have died within a few months instead of 2.5 years later.
The reason I am still a virtual rider with the PMC is that all donations I receive go directly towards new treatments new research at Dana Farber. Many more families will not have the awful losses my family has had. I look to the future in which there will be treatments to cure this awful cancer we all have dealt with for so many years.
February 11th is one of the two saddest days of the year for my family. Eight years ago on this day Amie Beth Shapiro White passed away at home in both Greg and my arms. She had that little crooked smile on her face; she was very much at peace. That was at 3:30pm. Amie’s pain was finally gone but for everyone else in the family the pain was just beginning. At 5:30pm the same day Lenny got a call from his oncologist telling him he had stage 4 lymphoma. The nightmare started all over again!! Back to Dana Farber for the 11th year every week.
We were married on June 18th, 6/18. I was married a little over 51 years to the love of my life. We would wish each other a happy anniversary twice a day when the clock struck 6:18. Lenny and I would discuss everything. We were always together out of love not need. We were friends first and then we were inseparable. We finished each other’s sentences. You could often see us holding hands and walking Eli, our standard poodle, on Main street in Falmouth. Lenny passed away at home in my arms October 19, 2018 at 6:18am, a little eerie. I can no longer see the gold flecks in his shiny eyes and no more Lenny hugs! Boy of boy I miss those hugs!!
Amie and I have been described as being attached by the hip. We traveled together, laughed together and just enjoyed being together. We loved our “happy place” in Falmouth. During the summer my wonderful happy place was filled to the brim. Lenny and I enjoyed every second! I no longer have “that look” she always gave me; I can no longer hug her. Her fantastic boys are now men. There are so many things Alex and JJ would like to say and share with their mom but Amie is no longer with us. She may have been tiny in height but she had a huge presence. My large family is now quite small. Michael and I lost two of the most important people in our lives to cancer. We don’t smile or laugh enough. My happy place is still my happy place but now lonely.
Life can certainly suck sometimes!!
Cancer is one of those awful diseases that unfortunately has touched everyone’s families or very close friends. No one is getting away from it. It takes your body, your mind and then your life.
Yes, I have had horrible losses but I know that Lenny and Amie would want me to keep fighting this terrible disease.
This year like the last seven years I will be a virtual rider. Please give as much as you are comfortable giving to help Dr. Anderson’s research wipe out Cancer entirely.
The PMC DONATES 100% OF EVERY RIDER-RAISED DOLLAR TO DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE. Founded in 1980, the Pan-Mass challenge (PMC) is an annual bike-a-thon that today raises more money for charity than any other single event in the country. This success is the result of a lot of people riding for, and caring about, a cure. And because every penny matters, 100 percent of your donation goes to DFCI.
Thank you for reading this letter and helping this year.
Love,
Tobie
My ID is TS0304
Click here (http://profile.pmc.org/TS0304) to donate for Amie and Lenny. If you would rather send a check please do. PMC, 77 4th Avenue Needham, MA 02494
Just add TS0304 in the Memo space.
I hope I can count on your support.TS0304_DSC_0013(1)_11_crop.png
