his weekend was rough for me since Sunday was Father’s Day—my third without Cristian. I started the day at Sunday mass at Mary Queen of All Saints Parish in Pennsauken, New Jersey, which is near Philadelphia. I met with DIPG families who had attended the Third Annual Childhood Cancer Symposium put on by Alex’s Lemonade Stand the day before.
his past Sunday, May 29, was the Prestige Productions Reunion at Latin Quarter. The event was a big success. We had such a strong turnout and the club got crowded really early into the night. It was great to see so many of my old staff members and customers come out to support the Cristian Rivera Foundation.
On Tuesday May 17th, I attended the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation’s Ninth Annual Dreams and Promises Gala at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. It was a beautiful event and it was great to be there with so many other families and doctors dealing with brain tumors. Joe Fay of the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation was nice enough to introduce me around.
Another Easter has gone by; this is my 3rd Easter with out Cristian. I wish I could say it gets easier. Although he is not with me physically I know he is with me in Spirit. I look forward to the day when I can hold him in my arms again.
This past Sunday, April 17 was the 4th Annual Walk for Health Walk-a-Thon PONTE-EN-FORMA at Roberto Clemente State Park in the Bronx. The organizers of the event, the Diversity Foundation and the National Puerto Rican Parade, chose the Cristian Rivera Foundation and DIPG as the cause that would benefit from the walk.
Today I got a phone call from Jayson Malave, Jordan Malave’s father, telling me Jordan has been losing his balance and one of his eyes has started going inward, just like when Jordan was first diagnosed. Jordan had an emergency MRI today. I went to NYU and saw Jordan and Jordan’s mother.
Organizers of the 4th Annual Walk for Health Walk-a-Thon PONTE-EN-FORMA have chosen the Cristian Rivera Foundation to benefit from the event. All of the proceeds raised will go to us so that we can then give more money to Dr. Mark Souweidane to fund his research trials.
On March 17, 18 and 19, I was in Cincinnati for a DIPG symposium and gala held by The Cure Starts Now. The weekend started out hectic. I missed my flight and had to go to Chicago first. But while I was there, I got to eat at Il Molino, which was one of the restaurants Cristian loved to go to with me in New York and Puerto Rico.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk with Rosemary Lora and Gabriel Villamil over dinner, who, like me, lost their child to DIPG. I first heard about their son Javier, who they used to call Buji, after Buji’s aunt Fulvia Gonzalez heard about me on the Yahoo DIPG Group and decided to reach out.
On Sunday, January 25th 2009, I lost my son Cristian to Pontine Glioma, a rare form of brain cancer that has no cure. On Tuesday March 10th, 2009 I had another painful loss, I lost my partner, my mentor, my friend, my brother and my second father.