August 2, 2022

Many of you know the story of Mano and me and know that our history goes back further than 12+ years ago when we met and got married.  Some of you know that our history goes almost back to birth and some of you don’t.  For those that don’t know the story of Mano and let me share some fun facts.  

• My uncle Andy, a/k/a Dr. Andrew Hagen (obituary here), was one of the few OB/GYN’s in Clearwater, Florida back in the 1960s.  After speaking to his mother, I discovered that he delivered Mano and his sister, Vickie.  In fact, Yia Yia (Mano’s mother) shared with me that when she was in labor with Mano the pain was so bad she bit my Uncle Andy on the hand.   What his hand was doing so close to her face I will never know.
• Mano’s father, Nickolas Gialusis, was a tailor in Clearwater, Florida and handmade my Uncle Andy’s tuxedo for him.  (How cool is that???)
• Mano graduated from Clearwater High School (Go Tornados) with my ex-husband, Scott.  Clearwater High School is also the alma mater of my father, Larry Thompson.  
• Mano was one of my sister’s roommates when he came home from the military and determined that he couldn’t go home and live with his folks anymore.
• Mano was living with my sister totally platonically, when she met her husband Phillip, 26+ years ago.
• Mano dated my best friend, Tabitha, back in the day and even moved to  Melbourne with her.
• My ex-husband, Scott, and I ran into Mano and his then-wife, Melissa in New Orleans when we were dates sometime in the early 2000s.
• Mano and Melissa came to Scott and I’s home for a housewarming party when we moved into it in December of 2003.  They were in town for their son Nick’s baptism at the Greek Church.
• I sold two of Mano’s cousins’ homes in the Clearwater and the Tarpon Springs area – you know who you are.
• Mano and I, re-met on Facebook in 2009, and the rest is history from there.

What am I trying to get at your thinking? 

I guess what I’m trying to say is that in some ways I feel that we were destined to be together at some time in our lives, however, we both firmly believe that we had to live the lives we led in order to become the people we were when we “re-met” and married.  It was those experiences, the marriages, the divorces, the loves, the losses, the friendships, the families, the children, EVERYTHING that allowed us to be who we are today together.  

Besides wanting to share with all of you and once again wish my wonderful husband a very happy (belated) birthday post, I wanted to share the similarities to our story and our current journey.  I think back to the life experiences that we had to go through to get to where we are and I believe that the same thing is happening to us again with this journey that we are on.  Trust me, this journey is not one that I would have chosen or picked for us, but I am confident that it’s the journey that God needed me/us to go on so we can share our knowledge and experiences with other breast cancer warriors and couples going through this journey in the future.  

See, cancer is not just my journey.  It’s all of ours.  Mano’s, Mine, my kids, my sister/family, cousins, co-workers, neighbors, friends, etc.  It’s always been my wish and prayer for God to use not only my voice but my experiences, and my lessons to help others going forward. 

Remember the saying be careful what you wish for, because you may just get it?  Since my diagnosis, I’ve had the opportunity to share with 5 newly diagnosed ladies.  I obviously, was not specific in my prayers for using my voice, because that’s the part that I never wished for since I hate that anyone would be going through their own cancer journey, however, I am thankful that my voice is being used to help someone else on the road behind me and that I am able to help in some way. 

In closing, I just want to say that I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband who stepped up to the plate and is walking beside me on this road, believe it or not, some husbands don’t.   I know that Mano will use his voice to help another husband down the road and be that special person for them to be able to share his experiences with them. 

Mano and I were blessed to have taken a few days for ourselves this past week.  It was much-needed “alone” time together and believe it or not, other than me needing to stay on my pill schedule, we did not talk about cancer at all. (What????).

There are no words for the love that I have for this man.  But I can say that I wouldn’t want to share this ride with anyone else. Happy Birthday, Mano.  I love you more than my words can ever say.  Thank you for walking this road, that neither of us chose, with me.  I will forever be yours!

Xo,

Tracy