[Fredslist] A Lesson in Time & Love

[Robert Giamboi]

Good morning tribe,

I'm writing to you this morning to share a valuable lesson in time and love: the two most precious gifts we have in this world.  I ask that you please do not reply to this email but, that you take a moment to hear the words of the story I'm sharing with you.  I am NOT looking for sympathy.  What I AM looking for is for you to let this sink in and make sure you don't make either of these mistakes before it's too late...

On Monday afternoon, I lost my cousin, Joseph John Giamboi, III, to cancer.  He was 25 years old.  Joey was diagnosed just over 3 months ago after going into a coughing fit and thinking he 'popped a rib' as he put it.  He was not a smoker.  He'd had a cold for a while and thought he could have pneumonia.  His father took him to the hospital for a chest x-ray when they found spots on his lungs.  His parents had him transferred to Sloan-Kettering.  Once there, he was diagnosed with seminoma cancer (testicular cancer).  Although lesions were discovered on his brain, spine, and liver he was told he had a 95% chance of beating it and that it 'wasn't about prolonging his life, it was about curing him.'  They seemed very confident about the diagnosis and the prescribed course of treatment.  After his 2nd round of chemo and radiation his team of doctors noticed there was little to no improvement.  In fact, the lesion on his liver had tripled in size and was biopsied. It confirmed that the cancer had been misdiagnosed from the start and they were unsure of the primary source.  This was just 4 weeks ago.  4 days ago, he and his family were told, "The cancer is too aggressive.  Chemo at this point will kill him.  There's nothing more we can do but make him comfortable and try to keep him alert and coherent for as long as possible."  He died approximately 48 hours later.

Here was a seemingly healthy, young man with his whole life ahead of him just 3 short months ago.  He was taken down quickly by an unforeseen circumstance.  The lesson I'd like you all to take from this is that life and your time here on earth, truly is short.  We've all heard it before but let this scenario really sink in.  We only have so many minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years so don't waste them.  You never know when your time is up so make yours count.  You can never get time back.

The second lesson is to love whole-heartedly and unconditionally.  Don't be afraid to love, to show love, or to tell the people in your life that you love them.  Joey taught me a valuable lesson that I'll be forever grateful for.  Perhaps he can do the same for you by hearing his story.  I'm very proud of him for the way he handled it and proud to call him my cousin and a Giamboi.  He knew everything that was going on and he maintained his composure and showed a tremendous amount of courage battling an enemy he couldn't see.  I got to spend some time with him on Saturday and tell him that I loved him but, you never would have known that he knew his fate.  He is truly the bravest man I've ever had the privilege of knowing.

I've also inserted a picture of him below, full of life and happiness...the way I'd like to remember him.

[cid:image003.jpg at 01D1CC56.A8545D50]

Kind regards,

Robert Giamboi (USMC Veteran)
212.858.0093 Ext. 101
rgiamboi at tristateadvisorygroup.com<mailto:rgiamboi at tristateadvisorygroup.com>

Tri-State Advisory Group, LLC
77 Water St, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10005-4402
"Your bottom line is our business"

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