Thomas Garland & Mildred Julia Moise, & Tom's Pebbles

I don't know much about Tom's family. I know nothing about his paternal grandparents and very little about his mother's parents. What I do know is they lived for a long time in West U (in Houston) and he loved to go and visit them from San Antonio. They had a wonderful small, old house that needed a lot of work. The house was sold after Tom's grandmother died and a new McMansion built. We would drive down his grandparent's street sometimes and Tom would so regret he was unable to fix up the house. He knew that if he had been able to keep that property it would have been an amazing investment both financially and emotionally.

Tom's grandfather, Thomas Garland Moise (1896-1989) was a talented artist. He drew pictures of many presidents, one of which is on the top of this page. His work is in the Library of Congress. I have many of his original works in our house. Tom's grandmother, Mildred Julia Moise (1901-1991)played piano and was a very positive woman. I think Tom got the best from both of them.

Thomas Garland & Mildred Julia Moise are buried at Forest Park Cemetery on Westheimer in Houston. Tom and I visited from time to time and I have visited since Tom died. All is well. Actually all is better now...some of Tom's pebbles are resting peacefully with his grandparents. I can't wait to learn more about them when I see Tom again.

Wine tasting for Tom

On June 29, 2009 Lonnie and Sue Cox held a wine tasting in Tom's honor. They won the wine tasting at the fund raiser and were so gracious to conduct it in Tom's honor. It was hard not to drink his share of the nectar.(I refrained and drove home).

When Tom and I used to go to events like this together it was always interesting. Usually I wanted to go and stay, and laugh, and socialize and Tom wanted to make an appearance, be nice, bring flowers, and leave.

Maybe he rubbed off on me. Now all I want to do is to make an appearance, be nice, bring flowers, and leave. This night was special though and I remain so grateful for the friends and family that stay in touch and still love Tom so very much. I'm so afraid people will forget.

July 17, 1999

On July 17, 1999 Tom and I got married. Ten years ago. It was a beautiful day and the best decision I ever made. But it had a few bumps. The largest being I completely choked as I started walking down the aisle and decided I did not want to get married. I was the stereotypical crying bride but it was primarily because I had decided I was not getting married. My dad had a death grip on my arm forcing me down the aisle, making sure than in fact, I was getting married.

Since it was a small church Tom saw this and had a bad feeling there was about to be a runaway bride. Everyone else thought I was crying from joy. Once I made it to the front and my dad firmly "gave" me to Tom I calmed down and figured I would go through the service and deal with the problem later. Seconds later there was no more problem. Tom was my husband. What a cool thing. Needless to say, except when he metaphorically left his underwear on the floor, I never regretted marrying Tom. I wish I had taken his name.

During the service a huge storm blew in and all electricity was lost. The reception was at my folk's house and so for quite a while we just sat in their family room, in the dusk, and drank. When the power came on we ate and drank more. We had our wedding dance to Elvis.

Tom and I had challenges, but to borrow a phrase I heard recently, by the end we were fused into one. Or another way I think of it is we were like a big, thick, powerful rope that might be on a ship. Even if you work real hard and rip the strands apart, pulling the rope in two, each half keeps the same wiggly shape it had before. Sadly, divided, it is just half as strong.

Tom loved picking blueberries

Several years ago Tom and I went to pick blueberries. It was a wet year so the berries were really big and round and sweet. It was super hot out and we had a great time. We picked so many berries we had them for two years! On the farm we ate so many we were practically buzzing.

Those were some of our best days. Outside, really warm, sweating, and laughing. Ok in truth that was my perfect day. Tom much preferred outside, cool, sunny, and laughing. (Once again proving his better sense over mine). We had some of those cool, dry days as well but not as many as Tom would have liked in Texas.

At any rate heading out to Moorehead Blueberry Farm on a hot day late in June with Ron, Stacy, and RJ Walker brought back so many memories. I relive them every morning with my blueberries in the breakfast.

Tom's smile, and laugh, and sweat were still out there. Now some of his pebbles are as well.

Post Conquer Cancer Ride Summary – June 09

From Rona, Gavin's Sister

Hi to all the great supporters of our ride which took place June 13-14.
Wheezin 4 A Reason ( Rona Williams, Heather Williams-crew, Ed McMahon, Tamara Welbourn, Leanne Welbourn) would like to thank you for donating to our team because with a goal of $25,000.00 we raised more than $34,000.00!!! WHEREVER GAVIN IS, HE MUST BE AMAZED, he set the initial goal that we surpassed.

We rode proudly for him and with others in mind, Kyle McMillan, Tom Lawrence, Leanne’s friend John and also Joanne Stacey, last Saturday and Sunday coming into Niagara Falls without incident, just some sore body parts.

Starting at the Princess Gates in Toronto left us with mixed feelings of sorrow, happiness, reflection, pride and concern (are we gonna make it??? It’s HOW far? 220kms!).

Riding into the first pit stop we made a run for the portable toilets first and then to our crew member Heather, to say HI and refuel. Onward we went, passing many a roadside supporter with signs and cheers until we came into Burlington encountering more family support!

After many more kms back of Waterdown, through Dundas, down Sydenham Rd. which apparently has a reputation because “everyone knows Sydenham Rd”, except ME, but a thrilling downhill ride, until of course, and my theory proves right, “wherever there’s a DOWNHILL, there’s an UPHILL”. We make our way up to Mohawk College to have the BEST shower and the WORST sleep of the year in our little blue NOT soundproof tents. And yet, I wouldn’t have missed this experience for anything!

Then wake-up at 5:30 am, pancakes for breakfast and back on the road which, for the most part is flat and faster than day one. Then, we hit the second, more difficult (to some of us) HILL which we walked up with the other 90% of riders. Leanne, the youngest member and the MASTER of the mountains from training in Italy, burned up that Hamilton HILL (yes, I admit it, it’s NOT a mountain).

A beautiful ride across the escarpment looking east at the CN tower reminded us of how far we’d come. A couple more pit stops later, some “a535” and oreo cookies we finished in Niagara Falls, welcomed by countless people cheering as we crossed the finish line. It was truly overwhelming. And then the beer flowed.

If not for you and your generosity, helping us by donating so wonderfully, we reached the required minimum we needed to ride, and we couldn’t have done this without your help. I am quite emotional as I thank you and my teammates who, some of which are new at cycling (Tamara and Ed), who did a phenomenal job of riding THAT far! So please accept my heartfelt thanks and enjoy the pics.

Rona

June 22, 2007

June 22 was the two year anniversary of Tom's diagnosis. I really don't like using the word "anniversary" in this context. I know we have the anniversary of D Day and of 9-11 but I prefer "anniversary" to be a day of celebration like the anniversary of a birth or marriage. But for lack of a more complete vocabulary I am going with "anniversary".

Two years and several days ago Tom started complaining about not feeling right. He could not focus, he was having trouble typing and an email that should have taken 30 seconds to type was taking 10 minutes. We wrote it off to stress, or not sleeping well but finally Tom decided to go and see his primary physician about it. Dr. Reuben performed a few manual tests and determined Tom had "drifting." That is when one of your hands or arms moves on its own accord when you are not directly paying attention to it. So for example, you hold your coffee while reading the newspaper...and suddenly your hand has turned upside down and you are spilling. This is a sign of brain trouble.

Dr. Reuben sent Tom to Dr. Jones, a neurologist who did an MRI and within hours we knew Tom had a large tumor. It took days for us to figure out it was cancer and it was only after the surgery we knew it was GBM.

But two years ago on June 22 I got a call from Tom at work saying he had a golf ball sized tumor in his left parietal lobe and everything changed.

On June 22, 2009 I felt this was one of many chances I had to celebrate the life of Tom. After a yoga class Joanne, Donna, Hugh, and I spent a few minutes toasting Tom with a bottle of champagne. We shared a few memories of him and mostly wished he was with us.

I look at Tom's pictures every day, every hour. I celebrate his life and the way he approached the transition to his next life. And I am working really hard to get through each day. But I'll be darned if I don't keep forgetting he is dead and think it is his step in the hall or his car door slamming or him on the other end of the phone ringing.

It is not of course but the memory is strong and I remain so grateful for the years we had together.

GBM Cause and Effect?

During several summers during his college years, Tom worked on a crew at Arlington Stadium. This picture comes from a photo album published by the stadium in the "high school year book style". He is the one with the really long legs at a "jaunty" angle. Be sure and check out the 1975 outfits and hair cuts!

One day Tom fell out of the back of a slow moving truck landing on the back left side of his head. This resulted in a mild concussion and in a way I do not understand, ended up with Tom losing his sense of smell. He was back at work the next day, probably wearing even cleaner white pants and a wide belt.

The reason this is interesting is that there is a growing school of thought that believes many types of cancer, in particular brain cancer, is the result of direct impact or "location-specific assault". There are several small studies linking this cause and effect.

Tom's GBM first presented in a golf ball-sized tumor in the back left side of his brain.