Spreading Christmas Cheer!

It is approaching the fourth week since Kayne passed away and joined the angels above to watch over us. On December 5th I updated everyone about Kayne’s Memorial Service. On December 6th, Kirsten and I traveled back home to Florida. We picked up Chopper (cat) from my Mom’s house and introduced Chopper to Moose. The trip went well with Chopper sitting on the console or in the back of the Suburban while Moose rode in the back seat. We arrived home late Wednesday night. Chopper had not been home since we dropped him off in July. My Mom & Gary took very good care of him over the last few months. In fact, I am sure they are having to adjust to not having him around. Chopper has adjusted back to home very well. He picked up right where he left off playing and sleeping in his favorite spots around the house. When we returned home, hospice had already picked up the bed and equipment, so that was one thing we didn’t have to worry about when we arrived. We ended up using a U-Haul trailer to get all our belongings and stuff home from Northern Kentucky. Thursday was a busy day unloading and getting things put away. Kirsten had several paperwork issues and items to work through. The first week home was probably the worst. Kirsten broke down more than I and at times was inconsolable. At one point, I ended up letting her know there was a fine line between consoling her and needing to let her be. Kirsten began going to yoga and began scheduling at least 2 tasks to accomplish for each day. After those tasks are completed then it is her time to just be. We have spent most of our down time watching Hallmark Christmas movies. Moose is always with us and most of the time, Chopper joins us nearby and lays on top of the couch. Chopper was used to our German Shepherds, Mirko and Marta so he has no problem trying to get to know Moose. Moose is a little more intense and wants to pounce and play around not realizing he weighs 130 pounds more than Chopper. Keagan went back to FSU for college on Monday after Kayne's Memorial Service. He is doing okay now, but things were tense during his exams. A learning lesson is that he should have let his professors know what was happening early on and received assistance from the college with things during this time. It is all working out, but we can recommend to others to not try to do it all on your own without some help. He is finished with college for this semester, but doesn’t get home until December 23rd. He is with the FSU swim team in Boca Raton, Florida for a week-long training session. He will report back to FSU after Christmas on the 29th to pick back up with swim practice and prepare for the spring championship season. Kirsten and I took 50 Cannonballs For Kayne mugs with $25 Amazon gift cards to Shands Children's Hospital for the pediatric cancer patients for Christmas. We chose Shands because they treated Kayne the longest at diagnosis and during his hospitalizations. We were able to give the same gifts to Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where Kayne was treated during college. We plan to incorporate special events with Cincinnati Children's Hospital and both Shands and OLOL in 2018. Please NOTE: This is my last update on change.org. My future blog updates will be consolidated and posted using the same platform Kirsten uses for the foundation website. All the past updates are archived and available at www.cannonballsforkayne.org/familyblog and on Facebook: Cannonballs for Kayne. If you use Instagram, check out and follow Moose. He has his own account Kayne asked us to maintain and it can be found at https://www.instagram.com/dementor_the_moose/. I appreciate everyone who signed up to follow our journey and pray for Kayne and our family through this platform. I will continue to post updates on the family blog at www.cannonballsforKayne.org. We move forward, putting one foot in front of the other, with our efforts to grow the Cannonballs For Kayne Foundation so we can continue Kayne’s mission and wishes of helping DIPG families with grants as well as providing partnering funds for research in hopes to cure this beast. Help us grow by sharing our website and Facebook page. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! The picture is of Moose after playing fetch...Taking a stroll in the wagon....