Bravo! Cucina Italiana

On December 29, we joined some great friends for dinner to celebrate my birthday and the ten year anniversary of the day I found out my cancer was in remission. 

It seems like whatever hardship we've suffered through in the past, if given enough time, we can look back on it with fondness. 

"Remember those college all-nighters and being stressed that we might fail the exam, drop out of school, and be forced to live in disgrace with our parents for the next 60 years? What I wouldn't give to live through that again!"

"Remember freshman year of the Academy, when we got screamed at because our closet hangers weren't correctly spaced apart? Good times. Good times."

"Remember living in a mud hut in Afghanistan, and being afraid camel spiders were lurking under the toilet seats of the porta-potties? Those were the days, eh?"

"Remember when I was tube feeding and I managed to spray food on the ceiling? Oh wait, that just happened. Maybe still too soon."

Of course there are plenty of exceptions. I hear about traumatic events on the news all the time that I highly doubt the people living through them will look back on fondly. I doubt I'll ever look at my jaw surgeries with nostalgia or some of my other radiation side-effects--although those are still happening. If I miraculously regained the ability to swallow, would I look back with envy on my years with a feeding tube? Maybe, if I'm eating brussel sprouts or sardines.

"Mmmmm...Brussel Sprouts..."

The thing about going through something like boot camp, or deployments, or cancer treatment is that while it's happening you often don't have to worry about anything else. All the other stuff gets taken care of by family or friends so you can focus on your mission at hand. So when you get home and you're confronted with bills, home repair, lawn maintenance, or taking care of the kids you look back and reminisce about the time when you didn't have to worry about all the minutiae of life. This is why some guys who've been in prison for extended periods are so afraid to be released back to the real world. Or why some guys who've gone through multiple wartime deployments choose to go back for another 12-18 months. Life is so much simpler. Just eat, sleep, and go out on patrol.

They just don't know how lucky they are.

Another nice thing about living through traumatic events is that they seem to bring out the best in people. While I was deployed to Uzbekistan in 2001, I got a package full of letters from a class of elementary school students in a town in Michigan I've never been to. Then, when I was going through chemotherapy while stationed in California, those same students (in 7th grade by this time) found out about it, and they each wrote me again. 

Also, when I was going through chemo,  some of the guys in my squadron got together and shaved their heads for me. 

The women shaved their legs in my honor too

There were countless acts of kindness from friends, family and perfect strangers. Lawns mowed, gift baskets, cooked meals, household repairs, hospital visits, shoulders to cry on, too many to go through. I'm thankful for cancer because it's made me see the grace and benevolence in all of us. 

It's been ten years now since chemo. It wasn't nearly as bad as radiation, I had a great oncologist, lived on the central coast of California, I had a supportive job that let me take all the time off I needed. My insurance paid for all my treatment. Numerous friends and family came to visit me. It's so easy to look back on this with rose-tinted glasses and forget about the worrying, IVs, chemo side effects, sleepless nights, waiting for test results and just being in pain in one form or another.

Big sis is shaving my head because I didn't want to watch my hair fall out

My favorite oncologist, Dr. Lossing

3rd Chemo Treatment. The Doc liked collecting movie posters

Renewing our vows for 2nd anniversary

So, ten years have passed since I heard the news that my cancer was in remission. It was also my 39th birthday. To celebrate, we invited our good friends, the Friedman's, out to eat at an Italian place called Bravo! Cucina Italiana. Whenever you say the name, don't you want to wave your arms around and use an Italian accent, or is that just me?

BRAVO!

I'd never been there before, but Betsy had. They have a gluten-free menu. Even better, they had a bar with T.V. channels showing the Broncos game!!

As usual, Betsy talked to a manager on the phone before we arrived and explained how I blend up my meals and eat through a feeding tube. The restaurant staff were very accommodating and had no problems with the Blendtec. If I could taste my food, I'd have thought the Gluten-Free menu had few options. Just three types of salad; a salmon dish, chicken dish, and filet mignon; along with three pasta dishes. I guess that's not so bad. It's nice that so many restaurants these days are making an effort to adjust to the growing need to reduce gluten. 

I got the "Chicken Griglia," which included whipped sweet potatoes and roasted vegetables. I explained to our waitress that she needed to add it to the Blendtec container with about 1.5 cups of water. Then, just hit the Soup/Syrup/Fondue button and let the blender do its magic. 

Grace is jealous because I get smoothies all the time

Everyone enjoyed their meal. I thought it was very filling. Bravo! is definitely a place we'll visit again!!

Our good friends, Adam and Jennifer, along with their awesome son, Sammy. Happy Remission Day!!!