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Headed Out West

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Our first real test of commitment  Beau Dudte Sorry all of my photos are buried in a box somewhere and nothing was digital in those days. As is the case for many young couples who got together in high school, we had quite a few ups and downs in our relationship. Through the years we would break up and get back together again. Then when we were about 21 we split up and it seemed like our fairy tale ending just wasn’t meant to be.  She moved home to her moms and I moved back in with mine.  Well at 21, when your kid moves home and really has no sense of direction in life, it's not the best of times. My mom told me it’s time to do something, anything but you can’t just go to work, come back here and drink all night.  Of course she knew I was just depressed about how everything was falling apart so she forced me to get back up. Sometimes you just need to do that with your kids.  I said to myself, you know I have nothing tying me down here in Ohio, I’m young and I alw...
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the early years

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Where it all began A collage of our notes and pictures from high school I made for Christmas last year . I first met my wife Mandy (Amanda if you meet her today) when we were juniors in high school, but the first time I really noticed her, was my first day working at Wendy's with her and her best friend Tiffany when I was 17 years old.   As Tiffany and I were doing our extensive training, which consisted of those cringey 90s rap videos on how to fill a cup, we were joking around and having a good of a time.  Well, for some reason that didn't sit well with Mandy. She decided to pull Tiffany aside and tell her, "don't talk to him, he's a jerk!"  She still claims to this day, she was trying to protect her best friend from making any sort of mistake. But I think we all can agree, translated into 16 year old girl lingo, it means, "back off HE'S MINE!"  Now looking back some 20 years later, if given the opportunity again, she might've played her ha...
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The longest month

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                    The first transplant                                     Beau Dudte After getting the leukemia into remission, I got to be home for several months while my doctor searched for the perfect match for my transplant. Typically they try to test any siblings first to see if they could be a match, but since I only have one half brother there was only a %25 chance that he would be able to donate. So they began looking through the national registry for my perfect match.  And while I have your attention, to become a match in the organ donor registry visit www.bethematch.com  When I returned home it was coming up on Thanksgiving. Which used to be one of my favorite holidays, but you’ll get to understand that. Some of my best memories revolve around cooking an assortment of meats various ways, usually a football game...
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Through My Eyes Part 1- Amanda Dudte

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Noticing the change.  The change of how your husband can’t throw the ball, your husband can’t    play football, your husband can’t cheer, your husband can’t do any of his favorite things with the kids anymore. The change of no energy, the change of no jokes, the change of no Beau.  Beau is like any other man who doesn’t need to see a doctor, he is fine. Well after a month or two, he knew. He knew he needed a doctor, way more than he would like to admit. He was not Beau.   The call from the doctor we never saw coming… He stated your white blood cell count is extra high, alarming high. What the hell does that mean??  You might have leukemia? WTF!!!  There is no way! He was healthy, doing manual labor all day, yelling at coworkers, playing ninja at work! This is not real, they are wrong.  We go see a specialist, she starts asking questions…. Do you have a pain in your side.. yes, do you feel winded… yes, do you feel weak… yes! Every answer is yes! Do...
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