Pens v Leafs (W 4-1)

My weekend plans for The Show got scrapped because tragedy struck this weekend. After a yearlong battle with aplastic anemia, my friend Fred died yesterday (Friday) evening at the age of 34. He leaves behind a wife and three sons, all under the age of 9. Basically, for no apparent reason, his body quit making blood properly. He went through chemotherapy and transfusions too numerous to count at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, but he was cleared to return to his State College home last month. He still had to travel to Johns Hopkins every Monday for more treatment, but we all thought he was getting better. That is, until yesterday afternoon when he was Life Flighted to Johns Hopkins. I don't really know why - maybe I was too stupid to recognize the severity of the words "Life Flighted" or maybe I'm the queen of denial - but I was no more prepared for his death yesterday than I would have been prior to his diagnosis.

I spent today in a fog making phone calls and trying to make sense of things. Everything that was once important seemed completely pointless. I wasn't even going to watch tonight's game, let alone recap it, but my husband (who might just be the smartest, best man on this planet) was so sure that I'd change my mind that he decided to try to take the notes after I refused to do it. And he was 100% right. Now, I don't just want to do this recap, I need to do it. I need to distract myself from this awful new reality just for a bit. So I am going to work on it right now. If it doesn't get done tonight, it will get done tomorrow because I'm determined to do it to reclaim some normalcy.

The Pens' win and Sid's and Geno's benchmarks all gave me something to smile about after a terrible day. You can start discussing the game in The Friends' Zone. I'll get started on the recap now.



RIP Fred. Like you said, "It's been real."