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Alexander Stephen Wozniak
October 14 1987 - June 27 2004
(Alex, at Rocky Mountain National Park, August 2001)
Always with love, never forgotten, from Mom, Dad, and Carrie!
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NOTE: Further journal updates are now at our new CaringBridge website, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/alexwozniak/.
Journal
Saturday, June 27, 2009 10:40 PM EDT Well, we did it! Today was Alex’s fifth anniversary and today was The Ride For Roswell. The day didn’t go exactly as planned, but then we shouldn’t really expect them to.
Mark, Carrie and I left the house on our bikes at 7:20 AM this morning, a beautiful, sunny, warm morning, to go to UB, expecting to get there just about 8:00. But just around the corner from home, at about 7:25, I ran over a nail and it pierced my bike tire. So we went back home and decided our best option was to take Alex’s bike, so I put my new seat (with extra padding!) onto Mark’s bike and he started off on Alex’s. And we were making pretty good time as we crossed Ellicott Creek to cut through the park on the way to UB. Unfortunately, Alex’s bike was running a little rough, the gears jumped periodically, and as luck would have it the derailer bent before we got to the starting line. Carrie and I went ahead to see about checking in and Mark walked the bike the rest of the way; we met back up went to one of the bike repair tents, but they could not fix it. The derailer needed to be replaced and they could not help us.
By now it was getting close to the starting time, so we decided that Carrie and I would still ride and Mark would walk the 5 miles or so back home. He waved as we took off in the second group of 20 mile riders, and then he headed home. Oh, did I mention that by that time Mark realized his wallet was not in his pocket? So now he would retrace his steps home, looking for his wallet. Not exactly the start we anticipated… but the weather was good and that was something.
And so off Carrie and I rode, keeping up a good pace the whole way. It was interesting and quite moving to see the multitude of people and the variety of t-shirts throughout the morning. Actually, I think the t-shirts pretty much told the stories of so many people, survivors and those remembering the lost battles, than words could. A few moved me to smiles, some close to tears. I rode with pictures of Alex pinned to my shirt. Carrie had painted her bike helmet a metallic blue and added “In loving memory… October 14, 1987 – June 27, 2004”. Several folks had “In memory of” or “In honor of” signs pinned to their shirts, which is what Mark had planned to do, as well.
We pedaled down the bike path, through Ellicott Creek Park, and down through parts of the City of Tonawanda by the waterfront, the latter covering much of the same route that we have walked during “Lindsay’s Legacy” the last few Novembers. It was the perfect day for a ride and actually duplicated much of what Mark and I had practiced on over the last couple of weeks.
As we were circling back through the Park, I had just commented to Carrie about whether Dad would have been back home yet, figuring he would walk the 5 or so miles home in about the sane 2 hours it would take us complete our ride. Just a few minutes after that, we met up with him as he was about to take the path up to Ellicott Creek Road. So we chatted briefly and he told us he had not seen any sign of his wallet, reaching down to show us the lower side pocket that he had removed it from to put it into a higher pocket… and there it was!! He had apparently only thought he’d moved it and so never checked that lower pocket. We had a good laugh and could relax about not having to call about lost credit cards. Not the morning we’d expected!
And so on we went, Mark to finish his walk home, and Carrie and I to ride the last few miles to the end of the race. As we got very close to the end my cell phone rang; it was our friend, Sue, whose husband and 2 daughters had been riding the 30 mile race, leaving about an hour before us. She was at the finish line waiting for all of us – that was a moment that brought me close to tears! They were riding in memory of both of Sue’s parents and her uncle who had died of cancer, and they were also riding in memory of Alex. We actually crossed the line about 30 minutes before Ed and the girls, so we had some time to chat with Sue and other family members.
After quite a few hugs and photos, Carrie and I decided to head home… but she didn’t want to ride any more! So we called Mark and he graciously came to pick us up in the car. We stopped at Party City on the way home to get 3 helium balloons and before 1:00 we were home.
After a nap and a shower… in that order… we went on with the rest of the day. Carrie and I went to the store for a few things, including bologna and “Skittles” candy, 2 of Alex’s favorites. At about 5:30 we released the balloons with notes to Alex attached. Just 3 colorful balloons this year, but they went up slowly and deliberately and I watched them until they were barely specks in the blue sky. We ordered pizza for dinner and 2 of Carrie’s friends came over.
And now it is almost bedtime. June 27, 2009 is almost over… another anniversary coming to a close. But Alex was with us, laughing sometimes, throughout the day. And we are so grateful to so many people who have supported us for so long. It does not seem possible that has been 5 years since we were last able to hold Alex, to touch his face, to have hope he would live to fight another day. I pray each night that he is at peace.
And we are also grateful to so many people who have helped us reach our $5000 goal for The Ride For Roswell!! Although it might not show it on the website yet, we will reach the top with a few last minute donations that we handed in this morning, and a couple more that we know are coming. Thank you, everyone!!
Next year on the last Saturday in June we will be at Carrie’s high school graduation, June 26, 2010! Alex’s anniversary will be on the following day, Sunday… and he died on a Sunday in 2004. We will not do the ride next year… I don’t know if we will attempt it again or not, I guess time will tell. $5000 for 5 years… something I never expected I’d be looking at.
But then, life never goes the way we expect, does it?!
Later, peace out and may the force be with you.
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: Patient Room:
Links: Dad on Facebook Lorraine Root
Ride for Roswell Bone Marrow Donor Program Tom Zuba's Grief Support Site
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