What it's all about
Scott,
Well, I was just looking around on your site a little bit and thought I would share a little story with you and how No Bad Days has affected my family. About 2 ½ years ago my dad, Ken Rathe, was diagnosed with AML, Acute Mixed Lineage Leukemia, it is basically the worst of the worst. He went through tons of chemotherapy, 3 bone marrow transplants and countless trips to the hospital. The past two years were extremely tough on him, but he lived them to the fullest, he was able to work, come see both my brother and I play sports in South Carolina, he lives in San Diego, unfortunately he passed away on August 15th, 2007. For him to live two years with this shows how strong he was, that is more than the average person lives with this disease. My dad had the best attitude and was so strong through this whole terrible sickness. Well, my younger brother, Addy, was home from school in South Carolina, and I believe it was one of my dad's first stays in the hospital. It was one of Addy's last days home to visit and one of his friends invited him out on his boat, I think it was on the Bay in San Diego. Addy really didn't want to go because he didn't want to leave Dad, but my dad insisted that he go and enjoy himself. So he went and stumbled across one of your "No Bad Days" stickers on a boat, so he took the picture I attached to this email. Well, my dad loved the picture and the idea of "No Bad Days." So he got tons of these photos made up and took them wherever he went, he always had them in whichever hospital room, or hotel room as he called them. He also had several around his computer desk, which is where he worked a lot, he was a photographer and did most of his work on his computer, his website is www.mysportpix.com if you wanna check out his stuff. He truly believed in No Bad Days, although things got pretty bad, he always believed in it. He would give out the photos to his Nurses, Doctors or basically anyone that he could. And he was a talker so he loved to share the story. He was the epitome of "No Bad Days." Well, the story gets better, so after my dad passed my family decided to have a celebration of life. We had it at our home and I told everyone that no black was to be worn and very casual, just like he would have wanted it. So, my mom and I were sitting at his desk trying to decide on several things for the celebration. We wanted to give something to people to remember dad, but we couldn't think of what. My mom picks up a photo envelope, the type you get when you order prints, and inside of it was one piece of paper showing the order form and a thumbnail picture of my brothers, No Bad Days photo. My mom says, "Oh this would be nice to give out," then she looks at the date of the order and it was August 15, 2005. That was the date he passed away only two years prior. Although we are not huge believers in "signs," it was kinda hard to not see this one. So we got about 200 of the pictures made up and gave them out to everyone that came to the celebration. My mom actually went back to the hospital to see some of the nurses and thank them for everything and several of them had the No Bad Days picture on their desks. My Dad touched many different people throughout his life, and I believe that this photo and the idea of "No Bad Days," truly helped him fight and stay strong throughout his battle with cancer. No Bad Days has also help my family get through this very difficult time in our lives. I thought you might like this story and I want to thank you for "No Bad Days."
Take Care and No Bad Days,
Mike Rathe
.jpg)
Comments