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We enjoyed our morning soy late on the patio, munching on biscuits. Today is a gorgeous day and on Sundays, the rates for public transportation is super cheap in Sydney. So we all took a ferry into the city instead of driving. We sat on the top deck of the boat with the sun in our face, breeze through our hair and picture-perfect view of the whole city of Sydney.
Once off the ferry, we went straight over to the opera house, on Sundays they give free tours! The line seemed long but moved pretty quickly. Once inside, we slowly walked through some of the main rooms. The architecture really is amazing with the angles and shape of the building. The grand opera room was large with stadium seating and a huge organ at the center of the room. Today they had young kids showing off their skills playing various songs so people visiting could get an idea of what it would be like to attend a symphony. There were huge clear sound rings hanging above the stage to intensify the sound below to the audience. We sat down and looked at the entire room before continuing on the tour.
The self-guided tour also allowed us to view the theater (which was not very impressive) and another opera room which had some of their costumes on display. We then walked through the area where they do rehearsals as well as past a few of the stage rooms…we saw Oprah’s name on one.
Once we were back outside, we saw we were right on the boardwalk of the harbor. The sidewalks were buzzing with people and we sat down at one of the busy cafe’s and ordered lunch. We each had a big juicy cheeseburger and a cold beer while we people watched. Veronica and Pat explained that on New Year’s Eve…this very spot is packed with people eating dinner under the stars while watching fireworks, and the harbor is literally a parking lot full of boats. It is probably amazing…maybe someday, Giff and I will be back to celebrate New Year’s here.
We walked around a bit more and then realized the Rugby World Cup was on tonight. Since we had the kids…we decided it was best to go back to their house and BBQ while watching the wallabies vs. the all blacks. Giff wore his Australia rugby shirt given to him last week by the guy at the bar, but…the luck of the shirt didn’t win…New Zealand won finally!
Dinner was nice and relaxing…we opened some wine, cooked food and enjoyed spending quality time together.
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Published by Giff Kabat
I grew up in Ohio as a kid, so of course I went to college at “THE” Ohio State University. I graduated in 2001 with a major in business finance. A month after graduation, I moved out to California with my college girlfriend (whom I married in 2005)…and started my career in sales (industrial sales for 5 years…then moved into medical laser sales for 4 years).
In 2009 I was 31 years old. I had a great job, a new house, and a beautiful wife. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better…my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby. Everything was going according to plan…and I couldn’t have scripted a better life for myself.
Then in the same year…everything changed. My wife, Brandey, called me when I was on my way to work and told me over the phone, something I never thought could be possible in a million years. My beautiful 30-year old pregnant wife was just told that she had breast cancer. At that moment, everything stopped all at once. I immediately went to her…and learned of our new plan…which began with her needing surgery immediately…and the rest we would find out later.
The day we returned from the hospital after Brandey’s surgery…my father died. He had been battling an aggressive cancer of his own…and although he was the one person I wanted to speak with about Brandey having cancer…I never told him. My sister, Brooke, had just gotten married a few months ago, and although he was weak, he was able to walk his little girl down the aisle of her wedding. On the night before my sister’s wedding, Brandey and I told him that we were pregnant and about to make him a grandfather. It made no sense to tell him that everything had changed for us…so he died in peace knowing everything was “the way it should be” for his only 2 children.
2010 was the worst year of my life. We had lost our baby…and for 12 months I watched my wife fight cancer with multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and drug therapy. It was a difficult year for us…but we made it. When you go through something like this in life, you learn a lot about yourself and the people around you. I was amazed at the strength and courage of my wife…and how many good people there are in this world. I will be forever grateful for the ones who never ceased to amaze me with their kindness during this hard time. Family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers…helped us make it through this. I am, and will always be especially grateful to my mother, who was with my dad at the very end, when I couldn’t be there, and when things were at their worst. She has been so supportive throughout all of this, and without her everything would have been so much harder for me.
It’s 2011 now…and the plan we have for our life this year…is to make it the best year of our lives. Brandey is officially in remission from breast cancer and she has a 95% chance the cancer will never come back. Besides the love that I have for my wife and family, the loves of my life are food, wine, and adventure travel. My wife and I love traveling to new places, seeing natural wonders, and meeting new people from different parts of the world. So for the next 400 days…we’ve decided to travel the world…and celebrate our lives. There are so many things I took for granted in life that I will never take for granted again. My father worked for over 30 years at the same job with the same company…rarely took time off…and died at 64 years old right after his retirement. For me, this trip is a combination of a tribute to him, along with wanting to spend the time of my life with the “love of my life.”
* The only thing I will miss while we are gone is our family and friends (who we hope will meet us somewhere throughout our trip) and especially our 3 little kitties we left with my mom in Ohio to catsit for the next 400 days. I will also miss watching “American Football” over the weekend…but I’ll do my best to check the scores in the middle of the night.
GIFF
View all posts by Giff Kabat
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