To mom with Love

This may be the most important and personal blog I will ever write.
One year ago today I lost someone so dear and close to me,a woman who was just like my second mom,My mom Anne.
I can hardly believe it's been a year let alone believe she is gone.Unfortunately cancer took away this beautiful woman with a soul and heart that was one of a kind.
I have never felt so much pain and heartache,nor  have I ever cried as I did the day she passed away.
You would have loved her,so many people did.She was a woman who loved life,people,and always thought with her heart first!
There are so many memories I have of her.It would take forever to tell you all of them so I'll give you some highlights.
I remember the day I met her in Maryland.My dear friend Rachel(her daughter) and I were very good friends (like siblings without the fights) and Rachel said she was having lunch with her and wanted to know if i wanted to join them.
Of course I said yes,and as they say..the rest is history. We all met at Bennigan's(i still remember I had the Turkey O' Toole) and had such a great time!Anne was so inviting and warm to me as if I had known her for a long time not just meeting for the first time.
From that time forward I would see her whenever she was in town to see Rachel.
When Rachel convinced me to move to New York (the best decision ever!) I got very close to Anne.I had my first Thanksgiving in New York with them.I even spent Christmas Eve and Day at their house (something I think noone had done) because they wanted to make me enjoy christmas since I couldn't go home.
And on top of all that they invited me to her nephew's wedding in upstate.And she was so protective over me.She made sure noone made a rude comment about me being gay or made me feel uncomfortable.And noone did,her brother, his wife and his two daughters(michelle and Kerri)  and everyone there were so good to me.Now they are all a part of my family too.
Anne and her wonderful husband Bob (who is also like a father to me,a very funny one!) also had me join them to celebrate Anne's birthday that year.We had dinner at Patsy's(amazing restaurant)and we saw Phantom of the opera (6th row Orchestra..truly amazing!)
By now I had come to look at Bob,Anne and Rachel as my second family.Their love,warmth and generosity to me is something i will always be so thankful for and truly never forget!
So when i met Keith,it was very important they liked him as much as I did! I knew they would have my best interest at heart.And they did like him..Phew!So much that Anne referred to us as her boys!
When Keith and I were planning our wedding we had originally had my mom and Anne walking me down the aisle,but then my dad said he wanted to also.So I told Keith we needed an important job for her,and being the smart man he is he suggested that she marries us!Perfect! The most important job!
When we asked her I'll never forget the tears she had in her eyes.We told her there was noone more perfect to do this than her,and you know what, we were right.Our wedding day was the greatest day of our lives,and it was all thanks to our wonderful family and friends,my beautiful husband  and Anne.Who was the icing on the cake! She overcame her fear of public speaking for us.And when asked a year or so later if she would perform a ceremony for other friends,she said "sorry,but this was very special for my boys,I only did it once for them and I won't do it for anyone else.Iwant to keep it special."  Now that is Love!
My favorite times after that were being at their house and having her amazing baked ziti and catching up on what's new in everyone's lives. Unfortunately,those times wouldn't last much longer.
The following may 16th she was diagnosed with breast cancer.I knew something was strange that day when I called,it was also my birthday and Keith and missed our plane and called them to see if they could look up last minute flights for us .They tried their best but I knew something wasn't right but couldn't tell what.I was kicking myself a week later when I found out what had really happened,and they wanted to keep it from me,so i could enjoy my vacation. and birthday.
After she succesfully battled breast cancer she saw her daughter Rachel get married in a beautiful wedding that October. She was so happy,it was all over her face.Many knew what she had been through and was still going through,but that day she had waited her whole life for,so no sickeness,pain or fatigue was going to interfere.I even got to dance with her one last time that day. Shortly after  they found something in her lung which turned our to be  cancerous (almost 2 years after she quit smoking) during the next few months it spread to her brain and her spine.
14 months to the day she was diagnosed with breast cancer she passed away from  the last two cancers.I can't imagine what she went through,to have four cancers attack you in just over a year,and yet she stayed strong til the end! That was the amazing woman she was.
She was Strong,optomistic,loving ,protective,generous( i could easily fill a page describing her amazing qualities!)and above all else she always thought with her heart first!
So as you can see losing someone this incredible is extremely hard,but I am so thankful she was in my life for these years and will continue to live in my memories forever.
My heart goes out to Rachel and Bob who dedicated their lives to Anne when she was sick.Rachel,you are your mother's daughter and Bob you were the greatest husband anne could ever ask for and an inspiration for me to be the best husband i can be!!
Lastly I just want to say....
Thank you mom for being the best at what you do...everything!
Love your boys,
Jefferson and Keith

Let your inner child out!

Hey guys..finally I'm back!Unfortunately this heat has been so ridiculous to sit in front of my computer long enough to write a blog!Today is cool,so that really helps!
This blog is all about my nephew Dylan's visit to the Big Apple,oh and meeting Tony Award winner Levi Kreis(Million Dollar Quartet)
Keith and I had the great pleasure of having my nephew Dylan come visit us for a week recently!There were so many things I wanted to show him,but so little time. So I let Dylan decide,and like any child he chose the M&M store in times square(1600 broadway). This place is huge(3 floors) and so many cool things inside.after about 45 minutes we left there with our $37 bag of M&M's that we mixed together.
Next we headed to Toys R US Times Square(1514  Broadway) where like M&M it is also 3 levels and majorly packed!
After a little shopping spree there we decided it was time for lunch at Dave and Buster's.
On our way there he got too hungry and opted to have a NY hot dog and pretzel.
As a New Yorker I never really agreed with  NYC putting chairs and tables on the streets of broadway but today it was perfect!
Now we were ready for Dave and Buster's(234 west 42nd street) where Dylan terminated the terminator game and won a whopping 480 tickets to redeem!
Which bought him a few peices of candy and finger locks LOL.
Now it was time for a break and thankfully i live so close!
That night we took Dylan to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co.(1501 Broadway)
A fun place based on Forest Gump's best friend.We won the trivia quiz(which gave us free refills on soda all night LOL) and Dylan got the shrimp he has been waiting for!
But like his uncle Jeff a few bites fills him up!
Afterwards we saw Iron man 2 and then headed home to play video games.
I'm telling you this whole week I didn't feel 37...but my body felt it!
in the next few days I took Dylan to Coldstone Creamery(amazing ice cream concoctions),Central Park,Toy story 3 in the imax,The Chelsea Hotel(where Bon Jovi filmed his video)and many other small shops and food spots.
But I did give him some education by taking him to The Metropolitan Museum of art.(1000 5th avenue)Which he loved because  of the Greek statues and midievel Times exhibits! They were really amazing!
Our last day with Dylan was spent at Hersheypark with his mom and dad and sister Skylar,our beautiful neice!
Hersheypark has come a long way since i was a kid! The rides are extreme now and the chocolate still tastes incredible!!
With Keith being on P90x we only bought $5.00 in candy this year versus $95 last year!
Alas all the fun had to come to an end and we headed back home to NYC but this time without Dylan.
When we got home I was sad when i looked at the Playstation 3 (every night before he went to bed we played a game of monopoly on it) and realized how much I already missed him!
There's always next year,and in a few years Skylar can join him!
Now just last week we went to see Million Dollar Quartet (which was incredible) and met  Levi Kreis who plays Jerry Lee Lewis! He's so talented and soo nice!!
He represents the gay community and artists greatly! Unfortunately Keith brought the wrong camera(the one with dead batteries) and the iphone sucks at taking pictures with bright lights from a marquee around you!So all we have is a picture of Keith with a blurry spot standing next to him.
But at any rate it was a great experience and Keith got to meet his inspiration for performing!!
Tonight we are going to dinner with our friends Gail and Doug at Becco's.So that will be one of the places I review next time.
hope everyone has a great week!! Stay cool and...
Bon Apetit'