Its A Small World

It's a Small World After All

Driving home last night I found myself listening to a show on NPR about "coincidences". They had asked listeners to submit their stories of coincidences and after receiving thousands of submissions they were telling the more interesting ones.

The bigger question was; Do coincidences have any larger meaning or are they just happenstance?

There was a story of a guy who asked his friend, a girl, to text him a picture he could use as a sample screensaver for his new phone. She sent him a picture of herself as a 4 year old child from 18 years earlier. In the background of the picture was this guys grandmother. The photo was taken on the other side of the country where the girl was vacationing as was the guys grandma. Small world.

Another story involved a guy who was interested in asking a girl out. He randomly noticed a dollar bill he found with her name, Esther, written on it. He framed the bill and gave it to her on their first date. She looked shocked but said Nothing. Turns out Esther had previously, a few years earlier, been frustrated in love and decided to write her name on about a dozen bills with the thought that one day her soul mate would find one of the bills and return it to her. They've been married for 14 years. She only told him the story after they were married.

Finally there was a young couple planning their wedding. The groom to be was showing his future mother in law his old family photos. The mother in law said nothing but had realized she had once been engaged to the boys late father but turned him down because her father had arranged her marriage to another man. This happened to be an immigrant family where this wasn't that unusual.

There were other stories, but this report got me thinking about coincidences of my own.

I recalled a particular evening I once spent in New York City. I experienced a pair of rare coincidences that night. The thing about "the city" is that its huge and there are gazillions of people, pretty much all of who are strangers. Years ago I once ran into an acquaintance at a New York deli. Also, one time we were heading to a hockey tournament in the San Fernando Valley and as we pulled into our hotel parking lot we ran into friends who were visiting the Guggenheim Museum. Then there was the time last summer we were driving back from a hockey tournament in Phoenix and I bumped into an old friend at a gas station in the middle of the desert.

But New York City?

About seven years ago my business partner, Scott and I went to New York. We were being recruited by one of the major wirehouse brokerages firms. First class accommodations. They put us up at the W Hotel in Times Square.

The first evening we had drinks at the bar in the W. Scott, befriended the doorman. Pretty quiet night.

We had our meetings the next day and decided to head downtown for dinner. We caught a cab and took the forty block ride. I forget the name of the restaurant, but it was a fun place, buzzing with energy, good food and I recall it was noisy. I got a phone call from my wife early in the meal. In order to hear her over the din I took it outside to the sidewalk. (I just recalled the restaurant. It is Balthalzar on Spring St. In lower manhattan. http://yelp.com/biz/KgpOYAG-r_eDsQXFXt0nnQ)

A cab pulled up and a woman got out and inadvertently hit me with the car door. It was no big deal. It was really just a nudge but she was so sorry. She got out and profusely apologized. I let her know I was fine and it was no problem. We crossed paths a few times during the remainder of the meal and I would pretend to duck each time we crossed paths.

The meal ends. Scott and I decide to walk back uptown toward Times Square. We walked to Little Italy and had cannolis for dessert. Scott went to a tarot card reader and was given some interesting advice. Something about the letter M being very important to his future. Morgan Stanley was the firm recruiting us at the time. We took this as a sign. We ended up going with UBS.

Eventually we hopped a cab for the remaining twenty some odd blocks back to Times Square. We got to the hotel and went upstairs to the bar for a drink.

Remember, we are forty blocks away from the restaurant and it was three hours later. Near midnight. In New York City.

We get out of the elevator to enter the bar and who do we run into? The lady from the restaurant who hit me with the taxi door.

Small world. We say hello, have a good laugh and go our separate ways. Now I'm married to her. No wait, that's not what happened. I never saw her again. Or if I did I wouldn't recognize her anyway. So that was the first coincidence of the evening.

Scott and I headed downstairs. The W Hotel has a club downstairs. You have to go down to the street then go downstairs from there to enter the club. We get in line and Scott recognizes the doorman from the previous night. The one he'd "befriended" at the bar upstairs. The doorman recognized us and waved us ahead. So now we are in. He says he'll take us to the VIP section. Yay. Never been to one of those. He leads us through the dark club to an area cordoned off by a velvet rope. It was really dark.

It's midnight. In the basement level at a hip club. In the middle of New York. It's very dark. My eyes are still adjusting. The music is pounding. The only thing I recall seeing was the ample cleavage of a lady standing in line in front of us as we were entering the VIP section. As my eyes adjusted to the light I lifted my view to realize that the person attached to the cleavage was the (now ex-) wife of a good friend from San Diego. I looked to the left of her to see standing next to her was my buddy, a hockey pal. He was also my dentist and my son's roller hockey coach.

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, they walk into mine.

So we all had a good laugh at the coincidence. Turns out they had a cruise scheduled with their teenaged kids but none of them wanted to go so my friends decided on a quick getaway to Manhattan…to come see me I guess.

So, there it is. It's a small world after all. Two coinkydinks in the big apple on the same night. I don't see any larger meaning in any of this other than having this story to tell. Cue the music. "It's a small world blah dee blah". Have fun getting that tune out of your head.

Piper's Tail-Can A Good Deed Go Unpunished?

It's Sunday afternoon.  We've been through a lot in the past week or so.

My wife and I were having dinner in Hillcrest last Friday.  We went into the dessert restaurant where our daughter works after dinner to say hello.  When we came out of the place we found ourselves standing on the corner next to a homeless man.  He was wearing a camoflauge jacket and a wool hat.  Nestled in his arm was the cutest little terrier puppy wrapped in a white towel.  I said to him, "cute puppy".  He came back with, "you want her?".  I told him no thanks and we crossed the street.

About a half of a block away, we looked at each other.  Kyle saw the look in my eyes and told me it was my call.  So we did an about turn and caught up with the guy.  I asked him if he really wanted to get rid of the puppy.  "Not for free...."  was his response.  We have a dog.  We love her.  We are happy with her.  We don't want or need another dog....but we just thought that we really needed to get this dog to a good home and she would have a better chance with us than with the homeless man.

Piper On Kyle's lap

I asked him how much he wanted for her.  He said $50.  No thank you.  I started to walk away.  I'm a terrible negotiator. But I wasn't negotiating.  I didn't want this puppy.  I was walking away.  He shot back with, "ok, you can have her for $30".  I gave him two $20 bills and took the little cutie in the white blanket he had her wrapped in.  I know, I'm a sucker...I was feeling charitable and did not yet realize this was a scam.

First picture in the car on the way home from  rescuing her

So we had a puppy....cute little thing. Not a lot of energy, shaking like a leaf.  But a little love.  We took her home and introduced her to our Golden Retriever, Roo.  Roo is six years old.  She was curious but not all that interested.  Puppy was "listless".  We have a neighbor who is a veterinarian.  She took a look at her and said she had worms but appeared in ok health.  

We started thinking about what to name her.  The first name Kyle came up with was Addie, then Piper.  We went back and forth.  My family had a Siamese cat named Addie, when I was a kid.  I liked the name and argued for that.  We named her Piper.

We put Piper in Roo's crate and she slept through the night without a peep.  The next morning, Saturday, I took her to the vet's at noon. They examined her, determined that she had worms.  Gave her a shot and a pill for it.  She got her 1st set of vaccines.  I was now out $200.

For the rest of the day, I told everyone I saw about Piper.  It was time to find her a home.  I posted pictures on Facebook.  When I ran into people with little terrier type dogs at the dog park, I told them the story and showed Piper's pictures.

Roo showing some interest in this little thing

All afternoon and Saturday evening, Piper showed energy, playfullness, appetite.  She had a couple of healthy poops.  That was a great sign.  It looked like the worm medicine was working just fine.  Again, she slept in Roo's crate through the night.

Sunday morning we got up and decided to head to one of our favorite breakfast spots in town, Village 631 in the East Village area of San Diego.  They are dog friendly and have great coffee.  We packed up Piper in a little basket with a blanket.  Roo hopped in the car and off we went.  When we got to the restaurant, people went gaga over Piper.  Everyone came and oohed and ahhed at what an adorable puppy she was.  We told everyone the story of how we rescued(bought) her from a homeless man on the corner of 5th and University in Hillcrest.

Anastasia & Scott meet Piper

One of the couples showed more than casual interest in Piper.  A cute couple fell head and heels in immediate love with her.  Just like that Piper had huge fans...more than fans..owners, parents, a forever home.  They had been talking about getting a puppy for a year and we were thinking, mission accomplished.  We did our intended good deed.  We rescued this little puppy from an uncertain life on the streets and got her into a loving forever home. Their names are Anastasia and Scott.  They are saints. They even paid me back for some of the cash I'd paid for the vet's visit.

Later on Sunday evening we were settling in for some fresh Downton Abbey. I texted Anastasia to see how the little pup was doing.  I received a reply that changed everything.   What had been up to this moment a happily ever after puppy tale, in an instant turned into a nightmare. 

The text said that Piper had been throwing up constantly and she was struggling.   It asked if I had gotten her tested for Parvo.  Parvo, the deadliest,  most frightening word any pet owner or pet lover will ever hear other than perhaps missing or hit by a car.  

Parvo, instant death.  Parvo, hundreds if not thousands of dollars down the drain.  Parvo, oh crap.  

I immediately felt grief for the puppy and just terribly that this nice couple we'd just met and was so happy to have Piper were now having to deal with this awful situation.   I know what they were feeling and worse, I knew what they would be going through.   We've lost two wonderful 

Pets to parvo.  One of the pets was a four month old kitten who contracted the feline version of the disease.   Three days and $3000 later with no relief but plenty of expense in sight we decided to have her put to sleep. 

I was certain this was Pipers and her owners fate, a quick painful death along with a pile of bills and an unbearable amount of heartache.  

Sharing germs?

Suddenly my sadness shifted to pure dread.  This disease riddled puppy, who we 'd rescued from this horrible man had spent two full days in our home. Roo's home. The Parvo virus is not only deadly,  and extremely contagious, it is also amazingly resilient.  The only way to get rid of it is to either throw away or bleach everything Piper came in contact with.  She was nestled on our laps and on our chests.  She slept for two nights in Roo's crate on her bedding. 

Roo is six years old and fully vaccinated.  She has been since we got her as a puppy.  But my fear took over and I was consumed with visions of her getting the disease and us having to deal with it.  I was petrified. Downton Abbey was on tv but I was frantically googling to find out the chances of my vaccinated, adult dog contracting parvo from a puppy. 

So there were two simultaneous worst case scenarios racing through my imagination.  I went online and scheduled appointments for both Piper and Roo at my vets for 9am. 

I took Roo in at 9 o'clock but Piper's mom couldn't make it at that time.  She, herself was sick and couldn't get there.  She was going to see how Piper was doing and bring her in later. 

So $271 later Roo was all tested and up to date with her shots.  It was only three days since she came in contact with Piper and we didn't even know for sure if the puppy even had Parvo.  It's possible this was all due to the worms.  It was all conjecture based on her behavior and symptoms at this point.   The vet assured me Roo was at very low risk of getting sick. 

Vet's Estimate for one night's treatment

I felt a bit better about Roo and I was hoping I'd hear from Piper's owners that she was doing better.  I was at Costco later that day shopping for new bedding for Roo's crate when I received this text. 

It was an estimate from the vet.  They took Piper to my vet where she'd gotten her shots on Saturday.  The vet tested her for parvo and determined she did have it.  The estimate, for the first night of treatment was nearly $1100.   It would be about $500-$800 for each subsequent night of treatment. 

I immediately called Anastasia.  She was so sad. She had fallen so deeply in love with Piper and now this.  They didn't know what to do.  They were quite amazing.  They had every right to be angry with me.  To put all of this back on me. But they didn't.  They took complete ownership of this entire mess. Piper was their baby and they were going to deal with it. 

All I could see was the bills piling up into the thousands to be followed by a not quick enough death.  There would be heartache, anger and debt. 

Piper, now Named Pumpkin resting at her new home

It's bad enough the disease is so horrible.  But to be compounded by the expense is just tragic.  I called the humane society and found out about an organization that will help out with the medical costs of pets. But it would take time to complete the forms.  Time we didn't have.  I immediately drove back to the vets office hoping to catch Anastasia or Scott.  I had offered to help with the expense. And the first thing I could do was to return the money they had given me to help cover Piper's original vaccines. 

When I got to the pet clinic they weren't there.  The clerk at the desk thought they had skipped town.  Great!  But this wasn't even close to the case.  Piper's new parents would never abandon her.  Scott had simply left to go get Anastasia at work.   I put the cash in an envelope and left it at the desk for them. 

They returned to the vets still not knowing what to do. They took Piper home. We were in touch all night by phone and text.  

Parvo home care kit: $200.  Mispelled Pumpkin

The next morning, Tuesday I got a text telling me they took her in to their vet last night and got an estimate that was about half of what mine had presented.  But later they took Piper to the most expensive animal treatment option on the planet, the 24 hour emergency animal hospital.  

Lo and behold, the vet there asked them if they would consider treating her with a parvo home care kit.  $200.   Wait, what?  That exists?   Hell yeah!   

Anastasia treating and loving Pumpkin

So they got her hooked up and have been treating her at home all week and she's been responding like a champ.  Suddenly this shifted back to hope and joy and love and caring.   It's now Sunday morning, a full week since the nightmare started and we are full of joy that this little critter is making it.   I've been getting texts and pictures since Wednesday that have each been happier and more optimistic than the previous.  

Healthy Puppy! Happy Parents!!

By the way they renamed her Pumpkin Waffles, Pumpkin for short.  That's what they had for breakfast the day they met her.  Pumpkin. Cute. 

So for now this has returned to being a happy story.  We aren't completely out of the woods, but Pumpkin is getting better, stronger and healthier each day.  

I heard a number of times when this turned south, that no good deed goes unpunished.  I refuse to accept that. 

Update:  It is May of 2016, over three years since this story first happened.  Pumpkin, Anastasia and Scott are all happily living in the Carribbean.  Pumpkin made a full recovery and has been a bundle of love and joy since day 1.  Happy ending!

My 76 Year Old Friend Running Around The World

Bob Rebello’s Worldwide Marathons For Kidney Cancer Newsletter –December 2012 

In memory of John Rebello

If you knew John you would have liked him

“He was a good son, a good brother, a good husband, a good father – and a good friend”

American Cancer Society’s kidney cancer statistics for the year 2012 About 64,770 new cases of kidney cancer [40,250 men and 24,520 women] will occur in the U.S.    Worldwide over 100,000 will die of kidney cancer and over 200,000 will be living with kidney cancer

The window of opportunity for me to meet my 1999 commitment to raise $100k for kidney cancer research by 12/31/012 is rapidly closing.  With only 14 days remaining I must raise $9,274.00 for me to meet the $100k commitment that I made to the team of doctors at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who have dedicated themselves to finding a cure for kidney cancer.

As I was, when I started my charity in 1999, I am very confident that I will meet my commitment to raise $100k by 12/31/012. I am confident because of the fact that in just the last 2 years my charity has brought worldwide awareness about kidney cancer to over 9,500 people from over 100 countries and all of the 50 U.S. States. Over the last 2 years my website has had 7,000 visits from over 100 countries and all 50 US States; I have 2,400 followers on Twitter, and 190 followers on Facebook. I believe that within the 9,500 worldwide followers there are 188 generous and caring people who will donate $50.00 each over the next 14 days to get me to the $100k by 12/31/012. If you have already donated – thank you – If you have not donated yet I would appreciate it if you would consider joining the 1,149 people who have donated to this worthy cause over the last 14 years.

To Donate By Check:

Make the check payable to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and mail to:

Bob Rebello
1399 9th Avenue #918
San Diego, CA 92101

To Donate By Credit Card:

If you’d like to make a donation by credit card go to my website www.bobrebello and click on Donate

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Tax ID # is 042-103-881.

You can follow the donation status by going to my website [www.bobrebello.com], Twitter [http://twitter.com/bobrebello] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/worldwidemarathons].

The only other 1999 commitment that I have not met– but I will meet – is to run more training and race miles then the circumference of the earth [24,901.5] by 12/31/012. As of this date I have run 24,718 miles and I only need to run 183.5 miles over the next 14 days [13 miles/day] to meet my commitment. It is going to be very difficult for me to meet the commitment as my right knee that I injured in my May 2012 Copenhagen marathon has not healed yet. You can follow my daily miles run and how many miles remaining before I reach the 24,901.5 miles run on Facebook [http://facebook.com/Worldwidemarathons] and Twitter [http://twitter.com/bobrebello].

December 2, 2012 “Surprise Marathon” - St. Croix Virgin Islands Marathon  

On December 2^nd I finished my December “surprise’ marathon, my 19^th and final marathon for my charity, which was held on the beautiful Island of St. Croix, Virgin Islands. It was a very difficult marathon for me to finish due to my knee that I injured in the Copenhagen marathon in May. While I was in St. Croix I had the pleasure of staying with my good friends Larry and Louise Williams. I plan on finishing my St. Croix marathon story by the end of next week and when it is finished I will put it on my Blog and my website.

Listed below are my corporate sponsors who have generously donated their “Best in Class” products and services to help me meet my commitments. I greatly appreciate their continued support over the years – thanks to each of you - I could not meet my commitments without your support.

Corporate Sponsors: Asics, Riggs Creative Group, Road Runner Sports, National Franchise Services, Wigwam Mills, Medicept,

                                     Napolitano Real Estate, BluRose Media, Phase [n], Sole Luna Café, Enjoy,

Bob Rebello                                                                                                                                

On The East Coast

My journey continues.  During my trip to Mexico I was the recipient of lots of recommendations for ways to improve my back pain.  My sister, Rachel sent me a link that resonated.  This link takes you to an article, a review of the book, The Anatomy of Hope by Jerome Groopman.  Dr. Groopman takes you on his journey to learn and teach how to use hope in the treatment of pain and illness.  His own quest led him to Dr. James Rainville , a physician in Boston who runs a spine treatment program.  

After my trip to visit the shaman ended abruptly with his untimely demise, I read up on Dr. Rainville.  He seems to be doing some interesting work that is somewhat counter intuitive.  From what I understood, rather than doing anything to reduce or eliminate the pain surgically or with meds, Dr. Rainville recommends going right at the pain using aggressive physical therapy.  If you read the articles you will see that his approach is based on research and data, not faith or magic.  His approach is to strengthen the spine, while realizing that the pain is a reality but not an obstacle.  We all have various levels of pain thresholds, where we perceive pain, and pain tolerance, our ability to cope with the pain.  I happen to have a very low pain threshold.  I experience the pain at levels were others may not feel it.  And I have a high tolerance for pain.  I've been able to function despite chronic and sometimes severe pain.  

Many of you may not know that three years ago after my sixth spinal surgery, I went on a medical leave from work and then onto long term disability.  The surgeries were the result of a life time of wear and tear from my sports; football and ice hockey, as a younger man.  My first spinal surgery happened when I was just out of college at the age of 23.  The last five have occurred since 2001.  

This trip to Boston has been quite a bit of work.  Big difference between this one and my trip to see the shaman a few months back.  If I think about it, that trip was fun and interesting, but really had me putting all my faith in another.  This trip is hard and grueling but has me taking all of the responsibility for my own healing.

The schedule has been as follows:  My daughter and I flew into Buffalo to watch my son play hockey over the weekend before Thanksgiving.  The following Monday I had my appointment with Dr. Rainville.  He was pretty amazing.  The appointment took the better part of an hour.  He asked me for my history, then he reviewed my recent MRIs.  He showed me what he was looking at on the films.  He constantly referred to research while debunking numerous myths about back pain.  He tested my strength and movement and shared his approach.  He, and the visiting doctor who was observing, were pretty amazed and amused at my surgical history.  He's not a big believer in surgery.

The bottom line to the appointment was this:  I have back pain.  I should get myself in the best possible condition with exercise and I need to make my life about something bigger than pain. Pretty simple.  The time spent with him was very much like a mini Landmark Forum, if you know what that is.

With that he prescribed me to go to his physical therapy facility 2x a week for the next 3 weeks where I will be taught to stretch and strengthen my spine.  His back boot camp is normally a six week program.  I'm traveling and can only stay for 3 weeks.  Lisa Childs is the senior physical therapist.  She and Dr. Rainville founded the Spine Center at the New England Baptist Hospital in 1997.  I met with Lisa the day after my appointment with Dr. Rainville.  She spent an hour and a half with me.  As she walked me through my stretching exercises and some of the exercise equipment I am working out on, she also debunked many back pain myths citing research.  For instance, one of the exercises they have me doing is to lift milk cartons off of a shelf, but using my back rather than bending my knees.  The research shows no difference in pain by lifting while bending your knees or not...and using your back contributes to strengthening it.

After my first session with Lisa, I headed to NYC for Thanksgiving with my family then up to Vermont to watch my son's hockey tournament.  I was stiff and sore from the exercise, but where I would normally just hole up and stay in bed, I didn't let the pain stop me.  I was not very good at doing my stretches during the holiday.  A lot of eating and traveling got in the way, but Lisa said something that stuck and made me do more than I would have otherwise.  She said to consider my home stretching like brushing my teeth.  I always make time to brush my teeth.  Just make it a priority and stay focused on it.  So I did.  I give myself a C+ for the weekend, but that was better than I would have done.

I've had two more sessions this week and I'll go twice more next week before heading home.  Lisa is training me so that I can go to the gym when I get home and continue on with the program.  She's pretty amazing.  She called me on Saturday during Thanksgiving weekend to see how I was doing.  I'm to be in contact with her when I'm on my own in San Diego.  She is encouraging me to come back to Boston to check my progress when I get a chance.

My experience of my pain is shifting.  It's still there, but I don't give it the power I did a week and a half ago.  I have visions of this approach actually working for me.  I can envision sticking with the program, and getting back to a more normal existence.  I can picture going back to work, exercising, reffing ice hockey, maybe even playing.  How cool would it be if I could swing a golf club and play a round of golf with my buddy David.  This guy has nothing to do with Dr. Rainville, but everything to do with inspiration and imagining what is possible if I don't stop.

Walking the Dog

Whenever I walk my golden retriever, Roo, at the park, beach, woods or canyons, when she gets far away and doesn't see me she seems very concerned until she looks up and doesn't see me.  Then she spots me and all is well. I'm not sure if she's nervous about losing me or concerned for me that I've lost sight of her.  It's kind of endearing either way. 

When she pees I give her an enthusiastic "good girl!"  She's nearly six.  I think she thinks I'm an idiot.  

I take Roo to a nursing home on Monday afternoons to visit patients.  We had her tested a year to become a therapy dog. She's very calm and people just love to love on her. Every time We visit, when we step out of the elevator onto the second floor the same lady is always there, in her wheelchair, in her house robe in the doorway to her room.  Every time I see her she pets Roo and tells me the same thing; "They know! They know who likes them".  I always smile and agree with her. "They sure do". 

It's such a sad place. The nursing home. It's amazing what a few minutes with a silly dog can do for a person.  

Brandon!   Well we did it. It only took a week.  I put the word out on Saturday night that Brandon was not going to be able to play hockey at SDSU this season due to his family's finances stemming from his dad's stroke.  See previous two blog posts for the full story. 

The response was inspiring.  From the closest friends to the kindest strangers. Hockey people and not.  Friends of friends, friends of strangers, hockey coaches, players, teams, rinks, parents and fans.  

I went to the Aztecs season opener last Friday night.  They won. Brandon played.  His parents and twin brothers were there.  I met the coach prior to the game and turned over the $1000 plus that I'd collected.  I will be delivering most of the balance at the game this Friday night.  They play a tough Colorado State team this weekend.  Come watch!

It looks like we should come in slightly above our target.  If so, any excess will be given to Brandon's parents to help with their bills. 

To see the look of appreciation on Brandon's face when he spotted me during warmups made me aware of the miraculous immediate offer to step up by all of you.  Pretty cool again.   We made a lot of people happy.

Well On Our Way

Great response to my last post putting out a call to the San Diego hockey community and beyond.  As you may recall, our friend Brandon Nevarez, a junior at San Diego State University, was planning to not play hockey for the Aztec's club team this year, after playing hockey every season for most of his life since probably the age of six.  Again, this was due to the hardship that has befallen his family due to a massive stroke suffered by his dad a couple of years ago.

I was at a preseason exhibition game last Friday night for the Aztecs.  Brandon was playing.  I saw his parents and went to say hi.  They then told me Brandon was only playing tonight, but would not be able to play this season due to their financial situation stemming from Robert's stroke.  By the way, not to embarrass, Robert, but I'm pretty sure he was visited by an angel during his hospital stay.  He went in for surgery, experienced a blood clot, which went to his brain.  He then fell into a coma, only to then suffer a massive stroke.  Robert's life was over.  The doctors were saying, if he survived he would surely be brain dead.  I was talking to Robert's wife, Barb and she was telling me that they were preparing to have him moved because the facility where he was staying was not authorized to "pull the plug".  That's how far gone he was.

And then he woke up!  So that was good.

It's been a couple of years and Robert is a living, walking miracle.  Things are still difficult for him, but he's an amazing human being, as are his wife and kids.

Anyway, back to the task at hand.  I started this fund raising effort the next day after the exhibition game.  That was Saturday night.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but then Keli, an online Scrabble partner from Canada sent me a message that she would like to donate.  Cool.  Then a few minutes later I got a message from Phyliss in Bonifay who offered to send a check.  Then Paul, whose son plays defense for SDSU with Brandon pledged $100.  Then Greg, a dentist from Scripps Ranch and hockey player/dad/coach made a pledge.  Next Brian, one of Brandon's youth hockey coaches who now lives in NY State offered to contribute $500.  Paula, Karen and Mike, all hockey parents from San Diego contributed.  Dan, another Canadian Scrabble friend and Montreal Habs fan donated.  Marty, Greg and Tim, all San Diego adult league players chipped in.  Larry, Jamie, Skyler and Debi...all friends and hockey families who grew up with Brandon were next.  I've heard from the professional San Diego Gulls All-time scoring leader.  Dave, who's daughter plays D1 hockey for Union College and son is also the goaltender for the Aztecs is making a meaningful donation.  (just got back from my mail box-Checks from Frances, Danny & Monica, Mike and Paula!!!  Thanks you guys!)

Last night I contacted Brandon to let him know what was happening.  I asked him how would he like to play this year.  He responded that unfortunately he was not going to be able to.  I broke the news to him about the generosity of you all and he was speechless.  The first thing he said was how could he thank everyone. So we've made a young man, his family, his teammates and his coach very happy.

The season and home opener is this Friday at the Kroc Center at 9pm vs. Long Beach.  Come out and support the Aztecs and Brandon(#18) and please keep sending money!!!! Still need about $1000.

Update: Tuesday morning, 9 am.  I just called Brandon's parents.  I wanted to make sure it was ok with them that I disclosed the above story about Robert.  They hadn't heard yet about what we are doing here, so I got to break the news to them.  They were stunned.  I asked them what they were doing Friday night. Nothing.  How about going to the hockey game.  Well, since Brandon isn't playing they aren't going...What if I was to tell you Brandon is playing.....ta da!!  So we'll see the whole family at the game.

Hope to see you too.

A Bit Out of the Ordinary

So, I posted this on facebook earlier and we've gotten a great response.  Some of my friends were asking if I could post it so they could share this with some of their friends to help out with this cause....so please excuse the break in my normal blogging while I share this with my friends and friends of my friends:

To the San Diego hockey community and anyone else who might be interested.  Your help would be greatly appreciated.  We have a friend, a kid who that our son grew up playing hockey with on the San Diego Junior Gulls.  His name is Brandon Nevarez.  Brandon and his family have no idea I am making this request.

Brandon's dad, Robert, had a massive stroke a couple of years ago.  Robert fell into a coma and was days away from having the plug pulled.  He made a miraculous recovery and is up and about.  But the family is strapped.  Brandon plays hockey for San Diego State University.  This is his junior year.  SDSU is a club team playing ACHA DII hockey.  Brandon is unable to play this year due to family finances.  I wanted to do my part and see if I could help raise the $2200 needed to allow him to play this season.

I've asked if anyone might know of a fundraising website I might use to help collect the funds.  But in the meantime, people are sending checks to my address at: 3625 India St #301, San Diego, CA 92103 and making them out to SDSU Hockey and writing Brandon Nevarez in the memo field.  Some people are comfortable sending the money directly to my paypal account.  If you wish to use paypal, send me your email address and let me know how much you'd like to contribute and I will have an invoice emailed to you so you can handle it that way.  Pretty simple.

Thanks a ton.  I would love to help Brandon out.  At this point he and his family are unaware I'm making this request, but they will know soon.  Hard to keep this quiet.

I put this on facebook earlier this evening and we are already at over $800.  If I end up with more than we need, I will give the funds directly to the Nevarez family to help out with their finances.

Thanks for your generosity.

Steve Balaban
(cosmo)