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LUKE E. RONCO 
Journal
Thursday, May 10, 2012 9:48 AM CDT It is amazing how when you are young time seems to take forever...I will never be 13...I will never turn 16 and drive....I will never be 18....I will never be 21. Before you know it, time has passed by quickly. You were 25, then 35 and then forty-something.
I feel that way today as I sit on the cusp of 10 years of brain tumor land. Ten years ago, my biggest concern was the questionable "what is wrong with Luke's eyes". I can remember quite vividly walking the stroller and 2 kids around the block wondering what eye surgery could mean for my little man. Yikes how I wish that was the extent of the worries the last ten years have brought. Life has been a series of ups and downs. Looking back, there are moments I am not sure how we made it through. But you do. You have no other choice so you press on.
People also in your lives at one point can drastically change at another point and this includes family members. Who said family was for life? Just because you share blood...doesn't mean these are people who stand by you or who are good people in your lives.
Ten years later we are different but the differences are good. We are wiser, smarter, and we have a different view on life and all that it brings. Our years have been measured by moments not days and our memories are the little moments not just the huge excursions. We have met amazing people. People we WANT to be around and people who accept us just for who we are in their lives. We have been amazing places and realized the true extent of the word humanity. We have been sadly disappointed equally by the many that have no humanity. We have been to too many children's funerals and too little play dates. We have scoured the east coast and realized it is actually quite small. We have found a voice and used it wisely and we have connected with families who realize the same.
Truth is the world is a series of words. Books newspapers blogs Facebook twitter....words sometimes full of absolutely no meaning. Meaning truthfully lies in the experience. The moments you can almost hardly put into words. These are the moments that matter. I could write a litany of those fateful moments when Luke was diagnosed. The moments leading up to our helicopter ride or the neurosurgeon visit or the brain surgery or all that has unfolded. But truth is that is part of our history not part of who we truly are now. Instead I will write about the 13 year old survivor. The amazing PEZ HEAD as he prefers to be called who despite all his trials is pretty smart. Who loves little children and who pretends he is an old adult. The boy who lost his childhood but is trying really hard to be open to opportunities to get part of it back. The boy who is blessed with sisters who keep him on his toes, keep his world full and keep him laughing and yelling and smiling and crying.
We are toughest on Luke. We expect a lot from him. Some days he disappoints but some days...wow...he sets the world on fire. We take the good with the bad and we try, really hard, to help him be better tomorrow than he was today. We try, really hard, to make him continue to see the world as a small place easily attainable with hard work.
Today, however, we mostly try just to live. To live, to love and to laugh. Because we cannot take these ten years for granted. Tumors are weird that way...just when you start to get comfortable, they spit at you.
The joy today is in the little things. The dishes that no one can ever find into the dishwasher. The toothpaste that always ends up caked in the sink. The endless shoes scattered about the house. The inevitably lost IPod touch. These joys remind us that we are still living!
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: Home Address: RONCO
Whitehall PA 18052
Links: www.thelilyfund.org The Lily Fund
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/r/rosierose/ Alexis Ronco's webpage
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/b/bellanicole/ Isabella Ronco's webpage
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