The Caccamo Clan - Guest Post - a must read

 My guest post for today comes from a woman named Kelly Caccamo.  She talks about how she is coping with the news that her husband, Joe, has rectal cancer, how their 5 kids are learning what cancer means at such young ages, and how they are learning that life may be short and every minute counts.  Oh, and with all that, they still have time to LAUGH!  After I read Kelly's posts, I start to wonder if I spent enough time with my kids and my husband today.  My answer is always NO.  I find that I take every minute of every day for granted, but don't we all?  Why is that?  Why does it take something life threatening to make us realize that we need to cherish the time with our loved ones and not bicker, fight, and nag?  When was the last time we said I Love You to our husbands and REALLY mean it?  We can all learn from Kelly. She has a great spirit and I am proud to know her and her family.  They are a great inspiration to us all.  So, thank-you Kelly for sharing and I hope I didn't embarrass you too much with the pictures!

Joe and Kelly - 9 yrs ago

Joe and Kelly - 9 yrs and 5 kids later
Avery - 7, Drew - 6, Addison - 5, Macey - 2, and Dawson - 1

We recently had “Dreams Come True” at Disney World thanks to some wonderful family and friends to whom we will forever be grateful! If you were with us or if you happened to be watching from afar our trip would have appeared more chaotic than relaxed, but what they don’t realize that is our life … crazy and chaotic! While each day we strive for less chaos and better behavior, at the end of an exhausting day Joe and I lay in bed and know that we wouldn’t have it any other way!! I do envy those families who seem to be able to manage it all, but we are not the Duggars :) !! I go to sleep dreaming of how perfect and magical tomorrow will be! Morning will come and the magic will begin, then the day will end just like it did the day before!

At Disney World the meltdowns were many, but the magical memories were more! Every morning the kids excitement could not be contained even as we barked orders, many times repeating the same order time and time again. They were not interested in the preparation, only getting there! One look into their eyes and you could see the excitement as they anticipated yet another ride, show, parade, fireworks or Tinkerbell flying from the castle!!! AWESOME!

As we ventured back to the Quad Cities, like most long road trips, their excitement was quickly replaced with agitation. Joe and I lacked patience as we knew the reality of what we were returning too …. chemo, scans and all the other realities that come with cancer. Even as Joe and I went to the hospital Monday morning our strength was replaced with agitation as we realized a hospital is no Disney World! We quickly pulled up the pictures of our vacation and reminisced about all the wonderful memories and our spirits were immediately lifted!

And then it hit me …. dreams do come true in Disney, but not because of the place, rather it encourages us to forget reality and make magical memories! This is yet another reminder that the dishes can wait, but Candy Land can’t … it is so important that we put away reality for a short time so that we can focus on our family! I realize life does not allow us to forget the craziness, chaos or meltdowns, so tonight I will not dream of a perfect day tomorrow, but rather that small moment in time when all is perfect and magical! My hope is that everyone takes the time tomorrow to play “Candy Land” and have their own small piece of Disney World in their own backyard where Dreams Come True!

Go to 'Joe's Journey by Kelly Caccamo' and "like" them on Facebook.  Follow along with them and keep them in your prayers.  

NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE