Buckeye Mike

Seven years ago today, I wrote a post entitled "The Pocketwatch". It is a story about my mother, who was my best friend and is the inspiration for this blog.  It is my favorite Christmas story, and has become an annual tradition. Thank you for allowing me to share it with you. As a kid growing up, Christmas Eve was always the most special day of the year. Aside from the Santa visit, the day was filled with so much tradition and family that is was more like an event than a holiday. Everyone would gather at my grandparents house for Christmas dinner. Cars would fill the drive way, be parked on the hill, and even in the front yard. My Uncle Ronnie would read the Christams story.  And there was always a feast, with us kids pushing everyone to finish their plates so we could get to the presents. And there were  a lot  of presents. Whatever car mom was driving, from the Pacer to the Nova, would always be packed full by the end of the evening, and many years required a ...

I'm a sap. If you have read this blog for very long, this is probably not news to you. After all, mosts of my posts contain come sort of story about my experiences in life, whether that story is the focus of my writing or anecdotal in the latest chapter. I have been told I have a story for everyting, and I love being known as that guy. After all, my Mom was a story teller. I get that from her. Not the only thing she passed to me though. She was a sap too. This time of the year is a little tough for me.  It was during this time, 8 years ago, that we spent our last days with my Mom. And while this by far has been the best Christmas season since that happened, what with Little Red getting on the transplant list and all, I still have my moments of sappiness, wishing she could be here now. One of those happened tonight Tiffany asked if we could go for a drive to look at Christmas lights. She hadn't been out all day as she wasn't feeling great, so I was happy to oblige. W...

306-C West Johnstown Road, Gahanna, Ohio 43230. At 19 years old, I knew it all. I bought my first car for $150.00. I had quit college to save money so I coud marry a girl. And I had moved out of my parents house (after they told me I had too) to my very own apartment. It was my life. My freedom. My place. Well sort of. Rent was $525.00 a month. That was a lot. So I had to have a room mate. Well 3 actually. I had to share a room with my best friend Brad, while my crazy, gun nut, con artist other roomate shared the second bedroom with his girlfriend. It was not a good situation. Still, though, it was my first taste of adulthood. And while the girl dumped me and the car broke down (who knew a $150.00 car would not be reliable?) the memories of living in that place have stuck with me through the years. I remember one day in particular, as I was walking to work, I saw a man in the driveway of a home along the way. He was teaching his son, who could not have been more than 4 or 5, how ...

It was the summer of 1991, and I had just graduated high school. I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted. I was free. Well sort of. That 11 pm curfew at my parents put a damper on my social life. So did the lack of a car. And while I wasn't ready to move out just yet, I did drop some cold hard cash on a set of wheels. A 1967 Ford Falcon, I named my car Excalibur. Why? Because I was 18, and a rebel without a clue. She was primer black.  Everyday I had to pump up the tires. The headlights only worked on bright. The heat had to be turned from behind the dash. And I had to press the gearshift up as I turned the key to get it to start. But that rust bucket was mine. All mine. About a week after I bought it, I was on my way to work. It was raining, and I hit a mud puddle. It was then I realized that, under the shag carpet floor mats, there were big holes in the floor board. I got an unplanned shower, and my lifetime of stories about bizarre things happening to me and my...

I have been posting entries on this blog for a long time. March 28th, 2010, in a small hotel room on the 4th floor of the Hotel Panamericano in Santiago, Chile, Buckeye Mike Blog was born. It was a very difficult time in my life, and I knew I wanted to find a way to begin journaling (and hopefully understanding) the jumble of thoughts dancing in my head at the time. Through the years I have published 331 posts, and kept another 55 for my own personal reflection. I have written many times about my Mother, who was my best friend and we lost a few years ago. She was a big part of the inspiration for this blog, as my life is a reflection of who she was. She was a storyteller, just like me. I go back and re-read from time to time. It is cathartic to see where I have been, see the struggles and the victories. And now, to look back and see where God was working in my life even when i was running from him. I have written about the restoration of a sewage treatment plant. I have talked ab...

Padiddle. Yesterday, Tiffany had an appointment with the surgical oncologist at the Stephanie Spielman Center. After last week's good but confusing news concerning the biopsy of a mass in her left breast, we had been looking forward to getting clarification and, more importantly, finding out if there were going to be more obstacles to jump through before Little Red could actually be listed in the Heart Transplant List. Of course, we are talking about my wife. So obstacles are par for the course. Dr. Farrar told us that the issue with the biopsy is a few abnormalities in the sample. While the tissue was completely benign, there were a few anomalies that could have been evidence of pre-cancerous cells. And, before we are put on the list, we have to know if these cells could present an issue further down the line. So what's next? Well we first have to go speak to Ohio State Preoperative Assessment Clinic to make sure that they can use anesthesia on Tiffany. I would assume ...

Good afternoon everyone. I wanted to take a few minutes this afternoon to bring you all up to speed on what is going on with the effort to get Tiffany on the heart transplant list. When I last wrote, we were waiting on Tiffany to have a biopsy on her left breast. that occurred Monday morning. Early today, the results came back. Benign*. Good news, right? Except, the asterisk is not a mistype. While there is no cancer present, the cells they looked at were "pre-cancerous" and she is considered high risk for developing breast cancer in the future. So what does that mean? A heart (or any organ) transplant recipient has to be immunosuppressed for the rest of their life to limit the risk of rejection of the donated organ. If Tiffany is immunosuppressed and the cancer develops, it would spread quickly and lead to the worst possible outcome. So whats next? Well on Tuesday, November 1st, 2016, Tiffany will see a surgical oncologist. He will explain what the concerns are, and li...