When I mention my son Bryan, occasionally a student, colleague or acquaintance will comment , "I didn't know you had any human kids - only dogs." That still blows my mind because when my son was young I was the quintessential Mommy & Me Mom! We lived on the Marine base and I was the one who coordinated the baby playgroups, baby swim classes, Mommy's Day Out, etc. Yes, I had my dogs too, but Bryan was, and still is IT for us. He's the only human child we will ever have and he is our light. Well, most of you who know me well know that he was diagnosed with lymphoma right at the same time we started planning to open Pup 'N Iron. At the time in our lives when our dreams were becoming a reality, our world was also crashing down around us. We would spend all day at PNI painting walls, ordering equipment, finishing the floors, and then return to the hospital to spend the night with him. He was at INOVA Fairfax hospital for 5 months. It was our second home for 5 months.
Well, the good news is, Bryan has been in remission for over a year and a half now and PNI is going strong. God has been very good to us.
I'd like to share with you guys a movie that Bryan made for his film class. His teachers have entered it into the GMU Film Festival that will take place April 20-22. I'm told I should give you a kleenex alert before you watch it.
Bryan's Movie - Out of the Box
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5 comments:
Wow!
What a powerful movie.
It makes all the little things I whined about today seem very trivial indeed.
Thank you so much for sharing!!! I lost my first rottie to lymphoma, so it is a pain that is near and dear. Brian's story is so wonderful, and beautifully told. Kudos to you all and best of luck at the film festival 8-)
Christie
It's hard for me to put into words what I feel watching his movie. I remember when I first met Bryan. It was at our Christmas party and he was still in the wheelchair. To see him now, its like a whole new person. I can't believe it's been that long. And the stress and strain that you two endured through it all is truely inspiring. His story is inspiring. Jill definitely said it best, "trivial indeed."
I'm so glad to see him doing so well and I can't imagine him losing that competition because even if it doesn't win, he has regardless.
Yes, he has already won, and we certainly have won too. I watched the movie one afternoon right before I had to go teach a class. Big mistake! It took a lot to pull myself together and still make it to class on time. Most of the time I try to block it out but watching the movie brought back all the memories of what we all had to go through. But like Bryan said, sometimes you need to take a step back and remember what you've gone through because in turn, that reminds you that you have survived - we're all still here, and we're not going anywhere.
Definitely makes all the everyday stuff trivial.
While I was watching the movie and Bryan starting talking about not seeing traffic at night in 5 months, it really blew me away, something that we all hate to deal with was a vision for him. It made me think.
As to the film festival, good luck and as Jackie said, he and your family have already won.
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