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Yes, this is John’s story and I am simply getting it started. Lately, our world has been turned upside down by the “C” word. Back in November John went to do his monthly labs for his liver transplant from 2014 when a 700 sugar reading landed him in the hospital. He tells the story better by saying, “I went in for my high blood sugar and left with cancer!
Shock and fear are the two words that I use to describe that day. In fact, both of us left there to return home in a state of disbelief because we had been living together in our apartment over 3 years happily (oh we have our ups and downs like everyone else) after a bumpy beginning 6 years ago. I would say it best like this - for the obstacles and circumstances we encountered early on to be together we were finally living our lives in peace and quiet. For an entire year I woke up everyday saying, “I am so happy when I wake up next to you in bed baby!” John gives me laughter, music and magic everyday. I never knew another human being could make such an impact on not just me but so many people, places and things in the world.
In six years we have lived in 3 states and shared a lot of living large moments together! We made our connection right here in Kansas and I guess you could say we have gone full circle only to land back here where I write today. But this isn’t a story just about us or me (I joke to John a lot that this is all about me when I cry or complain).
John was born June 29, 1968 to Michael and Petra Vasquez. He came into the world with a big sister named Elisha who would hold his hand and walk him to the Lamar’s Donuts from their house near Linwood and Gilham St. as children. To this day sweets and things like donuts make John lighten up no matter what. I say this with great love because our time together was filled with bittersweet moments. One time I was having a low sugar attack and we were broke and he says it was the first time he ever took something without paying and he took a Snickers candy bar at Quiktrip for me to eat. Let me say I really needed John in my life when we started our story in June 2015. The coincidences surrounding both of our lives make me certain we were destined to meet. You see at the same time that John shared an apartment with his grandparents and mother with her two children I lived only a block away with my parents and baby brother Michael. This wouldn’t be the only time before we became a couple that our lives would come close enough to touch yet not unite for many many years later.
As most people do when they become a couple they share stories about times in their lives that mark special occasions. Looking back I have to admit our unique choices have been similarly made while walking around on this planet Earth without either one of us knowing the other one was going to one day appear and put this puzzle and it’s missing pieces together.
I love to talk. It would be an understatement to say this without explaining my entire life has been about the spoken word. I talked so much in Catholic grade school that I often came home with a note pinned to my uniform saying I had been disciplined for talking too much. I asked a million questions too. Debate was my proudest accomplishment in high school despite being a popular cheerleader and homecoming queen. So let me say that what I love the most about John are our talks. He is the perfect listener and talker I have ever met. His stories are as colorful and funny or sad depending on his mood that day he tells them as are mine. We both have a way of telling an actual devastating moment in time two ways because we both have learned it’s all in the way you frame tough times in your life as to how they make or break you. Let’s say for the record nothing as ever been tough enough to break either one of us yet. This cancer battle is trying but we won’t let it. Stay tuned for our battle has just begun and our stories to be told will make you laugh and cry. In the end these words I type are really what all any of us have to hold near our hearts so dearly whether we are healthy and running around in our busy lives with work and families or two adults that share a past life apart through our stories as life slows down and looking back we smile at so many happy moments we now only have each other and one of us is sick so time isn’t guaranteed so we are in a race with the clock. For this I wish to tell the world about a boy I’ve come to love and a man I’ve had hold and love this girl. Life is good for this I know is why I am here on Earth.
I chose this photo of us New Years Eve 2021 because John brings so much color to my world. From day one I’ve been blessed by a man who shines so bright! Yes, those who know him well know he is one in millions who has undergone a complete transformation from vitiligo. Michael Jackson claimed to have it. It is when the melatonin in a person’s skin fades or disappears. It begins with patches and in John’s case completely changes color.
When we began seeing each other I didn’t see his change. I knew him from our younger years as a dark skinned Mexican boy but somehow he looked the same to me. This is an example of our most amazing friendship. It’s like I knew him from another life. We just began as two old souls who had never been apart. That’s how fast we became inseparable. My love for him has been on so many levels that I have to admit sometimes it’s as baffling to me as it is strong. He says he felt the same for me and that he knew right away we would be together forever!
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