Coincidence? I don't think so.

On October 26, 2005 the Chicago White Sox won the World Series.  To date, I bet my brother would say it is the happiest day of his life.  Larry and I watched the final game against Houston at a bar in Chicago.  I'll never forget when Juan Uribe threw out Palereimo for the final out.  The bar erupted in high fives, cheers and of course Journey's song "Don't Stop believing" (the White Sox theme song) was blaring in the background. I turned to give my brother a high five and a hug and I saw tears streaming down his face.  This was the moment he had dreamed about....He had believed in this team from day one and never gave up hope even when most people wrote them off and thought they were overrated and a team that couldn't finish-just choke.  

For those of you who don't remember that year, the White Sox had a 14 game lead in the ALC at the end of July and by the middle of August they had lost 8 of 9 games and their lead crumbled to 7 games.  They of course came back  and finished the regular season strong and absolutely dominated in the play-offs...quickly silencing their critics.  

My brother deserved those tears of joy.  He stuck by this team when most abandoned them. He kept reminding my mom and I, when we would call him and ask what is going wrong, to just be patient. And he was right.  

That awesome day in 2005 was a Wednesday....my brother starts chemotherapy this Wednesday.  Coincidence?  I don't think so. The 2005 World Champions renewed his faith, created real hope, and gave him reason to believe.  All traits he will continue to need throughout his journey with cancer.  This video highlights the championship season but also looks ahead to the future with great optimism.  There were many peaks and valleys, high's and low's, throughout the White Sox championship season, but they were patient, they never gave up, and more importantly they believed in themselves.

This Wednesday will mark the day my brother takes his first at bat with cancer on the mound.  The hardest part is you never know what pitch it will throw at you - I'm sure he'll see a couple curve balls, maybe even a few change ups.  But one thing that I am certain about is that my brother will be patient in the batter's box and and he will fight off every pitch cancer throws at him.  How do I know this?  He learned from the best - thank you White Sox.  Let it begin....

Sox it to it Lar...