Revelations of an FOFC Poster

[PilotMan]

You'll be in my thoughts. What a crushing story. We are all with you.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Abe, let me tell you, you've given a gift to many just now. Tonight, I will hug my daughter a little tighter, and try to "enjoy" the battles of getting her to bed (because I am actually with her to do it), and to try not to blow up over all the stupid little things in our lives that in the end don't mean squat. You've given the gift of perspective. Share your story often if you can. You can do a lot of good with it.

[sachmo71]

Anxiety...there are no words.

EDIT: Here is a link to the donations page off of the Huntington's Disease Socitey of America website.

https://secure2.convio.net/hdsa/site...v0i3khm1.app7a

[duckman]

Heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. God Bless you, Abe!

[NoMyths]

Sending my best thoughts, Abe.

[Abe Sargent]

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/m...Any-Other.html

[DaddyTorgo]

Been wondering how you were doing Abe. it's never not on my mind anytime I see you post over the last 5 years.

Sorry to hear that it managed to sneak up on you, but happy to see you're keeping a positive attitude.

FOFC is here for you man. Anytime...anything.

[ISiddiqui]

I think I missed this thread originally and I'm sorry to hear that it has come upon you so quickly. You will be in my prayers and your message in that last post is well worth listening to for anyone.

[Lathum]

I think of it as well when I see you post Abe.

What I am taking away from this is it seemed like a much shorter time had passed since you posted this, it makes me realize just how fleeting our time can be and how fast it can go by.

You will be in my prayers, I respect you more than you can know.

[Abe Sargent]

I appreciate all of your kind thoughts.

[Julio Riddols]

A reminder of how feeble these shells and the contents therein can be. I hope one day to come to similar terms with my own mortality. It's one of the hardest things to wrap the human mind around, how small and brief this all is. In the blink of time we all inhabit we're all related in at least that way, and as such, I admire your strength. It's the kind that makes others stronger.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

I appreciate all of your kind thoughts.

As your article was public, I hope you don't mind that I share it around a bit.

Your challenge is a fair one & I believe it's worth passing along to some folks who I'm pretty sure would be more likely to identify "Magic" as an Anthony Hopkins movie from the late 70's than as a card game.

God be with you as you live with, and beyond, your own challenges.

[Draft Dodger]

echoing all the sentiments above - I too have been thinking about you a lot lately and appreciate the update...although I would have gladly preferred to have this to come much, much later.

[Kodos]

Abe--I'm so sorry to hear that your disease is progressing sooner than you expected. Please know that there are a lot of people who care and who are rooting for you.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

As your article was public, I hope you don't mind that I share it around a bit.

Your challenge is a fair one & I believe it's worth passing along to some folks who I'm pretty sure would be more likely to identify "Magic" as an Anthony Hopkins movie from the late 70's than as a card game.

God be with you as you live with, and beyond, your own challenges.

Of course, not, share away my friend!

[Subby]

Your courage - both in living with the disease and being able to write so eloquently about it - is inspiring.

Anything I can say to you in the face of this challenge is going to sound trite, but I'll say it anyway. Stay strong and hang in there.

[Klinglerware]

I am so sorry to hear this. I had read your original article years ago, and have dreaded the day that you would post an update.

I'll be thinking of this today, humbled by your story...

[JPhillips]

God bless.

[Autumn]

Thanks for sharing with us, Abe. It is humbling, like Klinglerware says. You're in a curious situation where you know your future better than the most of us. Yet any one of us might die tomorrow, but we sometimes act as if we had all the time in the world. I know when I read your advice my first thought was, "I don't have time for that now. Later." But of course we don't know how much later we have. Thank you for the reminder, and the great example.

[BYU 14]

Amazing article Abe, like others have said your approach is inspiring and courageous.

Words can not capture the respect I have for you. Wishing you many, many wonderful memories along your journey my friend.

[spleen1015]

I admire you Abe.

[Sun Tzu]

Massive, massive amounts of positive energy are being sent your way Abe.

Right...NOW.

[Toddzilla]

Sadly in this life it is rare that you meet people with such strength, courage, and faith that it touches you in a way that it changes your own life, even just a little bit, or a little while.

I'm lucky to have "met" you, Abe, on this board in our odd little community of sorts.

Thank you.

[Fonzie]

I somehow missed this when you first posted it, Abe. I must confess to being speechless at this terrible news, but thank you for sharing this with us. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts!

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Fonzie

I somehow missed this when you first posted it, Abe. I must confess to being speechless at this terrible news, but thank you for sharing this with us. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts!

This. I read this thread for the first time 15 minutes ago and didn't know how to respond. Fonzie managed to capture my thoughts perfectly.

[terpkristin]

Wow. I admire your strength and willingness to confront this, and to do it so publicly. It really does put most of life's other nuisances into perspective.

I don't know what I could say that wouldn't sound completely cliche, but stay strong. I'll be thinking about ya.

/tk

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Don't know if anyone read the comments, but the comment from Matt was a very good read as well. He talked about his family's history with the disease.

Thanks for the update, Abe. Honestly think about you all the time when on the board.

I think everyone should realize that Abe's relatively short window of opportunity could be the same for any of us. Nothing is guaranteed, even if you're a perfectly 'healthy' person. It all can end in a flash. His suggestion to go see everything around you is a great idea. We have people come into our winery all the time who don't realize how many fantastic things are around them.

[sterlingice]

I can't possibly know what it's like but I think to not just Abe but hopefully this adds to the thread because this is what his most recent post got me thinking about.

If you've always lived in one place or lived in one place for a long time, get out and know where you live and get active like he was talking about. I feel like one of the most important things I ever did was on a whim when I was feeling nostalgic when my wife and I were about to move away from Kansas. In my late 20s, when I started forgetting things more regularly, I started becoming a "list" person- anyone in my fantasy leagues can attest to this (long, rambling, and organized!)- so I made a list of things we wanted to see one last time, things we never saw, and people we wanted to visit and do things with. I had lived there over 10 years and, for instance, had never been to Fiorella's Jack Stack- people in KC know what I'm talking about when I say only going there once (and again a year later when we visited) is a crime. Or we had never been out with a group of people we did things with outside of the normal setting- there was an exercise group we had been with for a few years but they went out to eat at least weekly after and we started going to that and getting to know some of those people better.

It pales in comparison to "you don't know how much time you have" but you never know how much time you have in a particular place, either. Some people will never move- they were born, lived, and will die all in one place. But most of us will move and many more times than our parents: it's the curse of our generation. Each of the last 2 times we moved: to Richmond and to Indy, we thought we were in good places professionally to settle down for a while. However, I lost my job in Richmond and my wife in Indy, each less than 2 years after moving there and because of nothing we did. But we hit the ground running in each place, meeting people and doing things. My coworkers in both places said I should be a tour guide because I had seen as much if not more there than any of them, including the Richmond and Indy lifers. I got to meet up with FOFCers in both locations and got to know some of my coworkers outside of a work setting.

Now, it's weird because we feel like with all the moving (4 spots in 5 years), my wife and I don't have a place we can call "home". We don't have a house or kids. We don't have what people would call a "life" as we're not part of any teams or leagues or part of a drinking group. But we have so many great memories of places we've visited and people we've met. Go forth and do! You don't know how much time you have and there's no time like the present.

SI

[Honolulu_Blue]

Thanks for the update, Abe.

Keep enjoying "Magic" and I hope Geno Smith ends up with the Jags for you!

[molson]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

His suggestion to go see everything around you is a great idea.

Ya, that's really great advice coming from a unique perspective. And I think we all have that drive - "I should really check out X", but it's so easy to get distracted or put that stuff off. But we all live someplace unique and amazing, and there are incredible things out there to experience nearby.

Abe summed it up:

"My challenge to you is simple. Find five things near where you live that you have never done. Then choose one and do it this week, and over the next month do the rest."

Challenge accepted.

[PilotMan]

You can only live. Life has different shades of color when the perspective is altered. You will still be in my thoughts my friend.

[DanGarion]

I appreciate you giving us this update, whenever I see you post I send positive thoughts your way.

[Abe Sargent]

I would love to give an independent response to each of you, but of course, time limits me. I treasure all of your comments, and profusely thank you for them!

[Chief Rum]

Damn. Like Lathum said, I have never forgotten your original revelation about this, Abe, and I always have it in the back of my mind whenever you post. You seemed to continue to go on with life like normal (as indeed I believe you did), so it felt like it might never come. But I never forgot, and now it's here.

You're a very strong person, Abe, and you have a ton of believers here, in whatever you choose to do. I'll keep you in my thoughts.

[Radii]

I read this last night and didn't know what I could possibly say so I just teared up a good bit and set it aside for later. It still feels like there's nothing to say... stay strong, and I'm so sorry this is happening to you. Anything you want to put out there at any time, there's a lot of folks here willing to lend an ear.

[sabotai]

Like other people have said, I've thought about your original post every time I've seen you post on the forum. That post was part of the reason that I started forcing myself to get out and do more in recent years, and that has definitely improved parts of my life. So thank you for that.

[Grover]

I read the original post in this thread for the first time this morning. As a relative newcomer and probably the newest regular poster, it surprised me, to say the least.

It sent shivers down my spine and I teared up a bit. Your attitude toward this is incredible, I commend and envy you for the way you handle yourself. I'm not sure I'd be able to keep myself going in such an up beat manner and I can only imagine it can be pretty hard at times.

I just want to thank you for putting things into such fantastic perspective, about how short our time here is on this planet and how important it is that we make the most of it.

[Schmidty]

Very sorry to hear this, and I am glad you seem positive.

Prayers for you.

[Neon_Chaos]

Abe, you are an inspiration. Keep fighting the good fight.