A Club You Don't Want To Be In with Joan Vassos, Kathy Swarts, and Michael Allio

So, um, tell, we, w- uh, since we are all members of this club, um, uh, uh, tell us about your late wife, Laura, um, w- and what she was like.

Oh, I appreciate that question, too.

Um, I met Laura when I was 18.

Uh, I was a freshman in college.

She was a senior in high school on a college visit.

And I saw her from across the quad walking around campus, and I told her, no joke, I said, "If you come here next fall, then I'll make it worth your while."

[laughs]

I have goosebumps.

I love that.

And this is without Facebook.

This is without, I didn't have her cellphone.

I ended up seeing her in the cafeteria the following fall and lived up to my promise.

So we were together for 16 years.

We hit all of life's milestones, got the job, uh, you know, moved together, grew together, and had a kid, uh, James.

And when we welcomed him into the world, uh, we had about seven, seven months of bliss before, uh, we found breast cancer.

So he actually stopped taking milk from one side of Laura's breast, and that's how we found it.

And so it went from all of this bliss to kinda life just flipped upside down, as it often does with any diagnosis that's out there.

And it was a wild ride.

Uh, she passed away in 2019 when James was two, and since then been really solo dadding it, uh, until recently with my gorgeous, gorgeous girlfriend, uh, Jade, who's just been such a blessing in our life.

But life is crazy.

And as you both know very well, you can have as many plans as you want.

Life doesn't necessarily care.

Uh, and sometimes we're left to pick up the pieces and find our way back.

Yeah.

That kind of leads me into the next question about being a father of a young child.

So, um, tell, we, w- uh, since we are all members of this club, um, uh, uh, tell us about your late wife, Laura, um, w- and what she was like.

Oh, I appreciate that question, too.

Um, I met Laura when I was 18.

Uh, I was a freshman in college.

She was a senior in high school on a college visit.

And I saw her from across the quad walking around campus, and I told her, no joke, I said, "If you come here next fall, then I'll make it worth your while."

[laughs]

I have goosebumps.

I love that.

And this is without Facebook.

This is without, I didn't have her cellphone.

I ended up seeing her in the cafeteria the following fall and lived up to my promise.

So we were together for 16 years.

We hit all of life's milestones, got the job, uh, you know, moved together, grew together, and had a kid, uh, James.

And when we welcomed him into the world, uh, we had about seven, seven months of bliss before, uh, we found breast cancer.

So he actually stopped taking milk from one side of Laura's breast, and that's how we found it.

And so it went from all of this bliss to kinda life just flipped upside down, as it often does with any diagnosis that's out there.

And it was a wild ride.

Uh, she passed away in 2019 when James was two, and since then been really solo dadding it, uh, until recently with my gorgeous, gorgeous girlfriend, uh, Jade, who's just been such a blessing in our life.

But life is crazy.

And as you both know very well, you can have as many plans as you want.

Life doesn't necessarily care.

Uh, and sometimes we're left to pick up the pieces and find our way back.

Yeah.

That kind of leads me into the next question about being a father of a young child.