<p>This is such a grand iea! A celebration of life! Now that my dad’s house sold I don’t make it up that way so it is probably not likely I can make it, but I will be there in spirit!</p>
<p>I just caught a piece of this thread. I would love to come if it is possible! Glad that you are feeling up to this sunrise!</p>
<p>Wow! I continue to be humbled by your kindness Sunrise! Ill try my hardest to be there. But lets talk about Wis75s suggestion first. We all know theres a book here. Having benefited from your beautiful and honest writing, I will turn back to these posts for knowledge and support when its again my turn to go through lifes challenges. So how can we help you with this? As a technical writer/editor in the space industry, I could help with organization and copy editing, but my gifts are limited when it comes to creative efforts. However, based on the eloquence of many of the posters writings, there are some really good writers out there. Maybe together we could help you compile your awe-inspiring journey so that others could benefit from your wisdom. This could lead to lots of parties!</p>
<p>Sunrise -
I discovered this thread on Thanksgiving Day, and devoured the story of your odyssey. Thank you so much for sharing it.<br>
Simultaneously, S2 was filling out a college app which included a list of the ten most meaningful books he’s read in the past year. He included his grandfather’s self-published autobiography. His grandfather wrote this book while he was in good health, recounting his life beginning with immigration at 3, leaving high school early to enlist, returning home and driving drunk into a house, re-enlisting to pay off his debt, then losing his leg a week before his scheduled return. And that’s just the beginning of it. This man was a character, and went on to run a successful business and raise four kids who attended MIT, RPI, West Point and Notre Dame. He passed away suddenly a year or two after completing the book, and I cannot tell you what a gift it is to his family. His voice resonates on every page, and I can’t help but chuckle and cry every time I pick it up. We kind of rolled our eyes when he wrote it, but it truly captures him for posterity. I hope you’ll package and share this thread, it recounts your journey so vividly, and I can tell it captures your true voice, which is the definition of good writing.</p>
<p>I live pretty far away, but need to go to DC in Jan. If I’m that close on the right day-I’ll come.</p>
<p>Guess it’s time to come out of hiding. 
I’ve been following this thread for quite awhile and since I have a sophomore in college, I’m sure we were on the class of 2011 thread together, Sunrise. I have to say that I feel fairly dull witted after reading your posts. Your eloquence and grace have lifted me up many times. Thank you. </p>
<p>I hope you and your husband have a good weekend.</p>
<p>what a wonderful post about S2, your precious 19 year old son. warmed my heart to see your grace as you let him seek his own wind and set his own sails and speed in accepting his mother’s vulnerabilities due to cancer. ROTC scholarship, good for him–very proud and a strong way to start life. (I am a military brat/ parent here). An open house would be such a joy and pleasure for your far flung fellow parents. Prob too far for me but I am going to pay attention here just in case!</p>
<p>you absolutely amaze me, so happy that your son has come to a resolution and your instincts were so right on. My two daughters also had two different reactions to my third cancer diagnosis, everyone deals with it differently. It was more painful to think about the effects of my diagnosis on my family and what my illness/death would mean for them. Your honesty and insight has affected so many, the ripples go on and on and you will never knwo how much you have affected others in such a positive way.</p>
<p>One requirement of the open house is some sort of virtual way the rest of us can attend! Everyone there has to be at least ten people who couldn’t make it. The good news is that you will only have to budget for the 10% who actually attend in person. Have fun planning the party. And, of course, Murphy’s Law dictates that a blizzard will be caused by your efforts to thwart all planning on really being there…</p>
<p>I love Alumothers suggestion of a Facebook page. Just curious, sunrise, do your family members know about this thread? Do they read it,too?</p>
<p>A private FB page can be set up so any posts don’t show up outside of the groups page. I belong to a group that has one, and we’ve become quite close.</p>
<p>some amazing suggestions here. I apologize for not answering your posts individually! Please know that I will consider all of your ideas/suggestions/recommendations carefully. I really hope that in a couple of months I will be in a form and shape to hold an open house party for the CC friends!</p>
<p>One repeated suggestion regarding a book: this is something I made some inquiries about. A couple of agents I contacted rejected the idea: they said cancer books are dime a dozen, and unless there is a good “platform”, it’s not a project they are interested in. “Platform” in this case means built-in audience. In short, if it is a book about/by a celebrity, etc, YES. If not, even if the quality of the writing is superb, NO. So, if Jersey Shore’s reality show star writes it (probably it will be ghost written), it’s a viable project regardless how asinine the content is. Sigh, this is the reality of the pop culture we live in. However, in this day and age of digital everything, I could put together what I wrote as an eBook, and share it among friends and family. Making money is not my goal, so something I can do relatively easily… I hope.</p>
<p>Today, I would like to share a piece of good news, NOT about me, but good news that made me happy. We learned a few days ago my S1 (a fourth year in a college) is getting job offers from a high tech company known as one of the best companies to work for and one of the hardest companies to get into. They have a very rigorous selection process: the candidates must go through 3-4 steps of hurdles - at each stage, candidates are weeded out. Takes a long time to go through all of them. He applied to multiple career path positions (ranging from purely technical software programming to positions with more business flair), and looks like he is getting offers from all of these paths. He will have to choose one.</p>
<p>He is a pretty sharp kid, but honestly I thought he would be weeded out at the resume screening stage. The reason: he changed his direction to computer science at the beginning of the third year - so he had only one year of study/preparation to compete with his peers with CS degrees from top schools, and he won’t even have a minor in CS when he graduates next year. AND we know that this company hardly ever hires non CS majors even for business related functions (for business focused positions, a CS minor may be OK). His best friend who will be graduating next year with a CS degree from one of the top schools in the world with internships at world class tech companies from the sophomore year at HIGH SCHOOL got rejected so I figured the odds are really in my son’s favor at all. Then we learned, from an insider who works there, that in reality, he got one of highest possible interview/evaluation scores given to a candidate. Obviously, he did something right. </p>
<p>So, this is a very pleasant surprise. For the rest of his fourth year at college, he won’t have to fly all over the place for job interviews and what not. Another great benefit of working for this company is that they have a very flexible policy in terms of location. His preference is to get a position at the HQ in the Silicone Valley, but for a couple of months at a time, if there is a good reason for it, he can easily work from a remote site (like NYC). So, when my H is recovering from his lung transplant surgery, S1 can work out of the New York office for a couple of months. This is really good! </p>
<p>More than anything else, what really pleases me is that in spite of all the grave health issues I and my H are dealing with, the kids, though they may be sad on our account, have not been impacted when it comes to pursuing their goals and their future prospect. it would have been so hard for me to watch my kids falter because of what their parents are dealing with. What a great relief. this is why this latest news is so meaningful for both me and H. </p>
<p>To boast like this about one’s kids in a public forum ---- this is so obnoxious. However, I could be forgiven for such a grave social sin! I am an advanced stage cancer patient. Gotta make lemonade out of a lemon by using it as an excellent excuse for violating a major social etiquette 
;)</p>
<p>Congrats, sunrise! You must know that we all kvell with you on your son’s success. :)</p>
<p>(I think I know what company it is. The description sounds awfully familiar.) Good luck to him…I’m sure he’ll make it!</p>
<p>Not obnoxious at all. You are sharing wonderful news and I’m glad that you did.</p>
<p>Cheers and congrats to your S!</p>
<p>Great news!!! Congrats to your S</p>
<p>Boast away all you want!! Your boys have been raised by extraordinary parents so it is with great pride that we celebrate with you!
Congratulations to your son!!</p>
<p>So glad to hear such wonderful news! What could be better healing energy for you & your DH then to see your DS succeed and thrive so amazingly under the challenging circumstances endured by your family. Congrats and brag away!</p>
<p>Dear Sunrise,
Congrats on your son’s job offers! I bet I can guess which company it is, too. </p>
<p>About your book–the world is changing and there has never been a better time to self-publish. </p>
<p>I have written a book with a major publisher–they paid the up-front costs of production (copy-editing, some art work, type setting, etc.), but in return they own the book and pay the authors a measely 10-12% royalties. They did practically nothing to market–pretty much all the marketing effort was done by the authors. And the indexer they hired was incompetent so we ended up redoing that ourselves, anyway after a fight with the publisher about it.</p>
<p>If you self-publish, you retain both control and ownership. There are several options for how to get physical books produced and distributed (lulu or createspace, for example), or you might consider an e-book only like Amazon singles. </p>
<p>You could hire freelance people to do copy-editing, design work, or cover art if you feel you need help with that. (The provided templates might be fine) Or for you, I bet there are many qualified people on CC would be honored to be allowed to help you with this project.</p>
<p>Love, love, love the good news!!! Good news is some of the best medicine there is. How did you feel after you heard it? Great? Yes, I’m sure you did. So happy for your son, too. He has had a lot on his plate and handled it like someone he is related to.<br>
:)</p>
<p>yay, yay, yay! wonderful news! so happy for all of you sunrise!</p>