Quotes from John Passaro

It is at this moment that I realize the best thing I ever did in my life was to marry this woman. She is willing to give up her life for her child. I know most parents would do the same. But how many mothers would give up everything that they love, everything that they will ever be able to do in the future for the "possibility and not the guarantee" of getting their child better. Now reduce the odds of success to less than 1%. How many mothers are still standing? She is.

Sometimes life is your opponent and just showing up is a victory.

Just do the next right thing. Then repeat indefinitely.

I love my mother. My mother loves my dad. Those two facts are undeniable. I want my father to live. I want him to fight to live as long as he can. My mother wants to let him pass. She does not want him suffering anymore. She says that I am not there in the middle of the night at home, when he begs her to let him die. I say that he should not be taking the medicine that the doctor is prescribing, that it made Mike Tyson want to eat his opponents young.

It has taken me four years to figure this out. If we live long enough, we all will experience this. Don't ever predetermine how you think that you should feel on an anniversary of a tragic event in your life, such as a death of a loved one, or on a holiday after such an event. Each year starts out with 365 days, and I will be damned if I am giving up even one of them to misery.

A diagnosis is not a prognosis unless you let it be.

I am noticing a big difference in the way the hospital workers are looking at me as I approach Jess's room. The look of sincere sympathy that used to be on their faces when they made eye contact with me is gone. It has been replaced by shear helplessness as they quickly walk past me with their heads tilted down and to the right. I feel like Bud Fox walking into his office with the Securities and Exchange Commission awaiting him.

Be grateful. Not Hateful.

When your dreams are big enough the odds just don't matter.

I guarantee that tomorrow there will be something that will happen, that has never happened before. That is something to look forward too. And the best part of tomorrow is that there is another one just a day later.

There was no way possible that I was going to have a life and not live it.

Mr. Passaro, let me teach you about how medicine works." He starts out. "One of two things is going to happen. Either the Doctors are going to say I told you so, or they are going to say that Jess was the exception. What you believe will determine who gets to say I told you so to whom." "Never stop believing." He begs me. "Doctor, you are on the team". I say. He smiles.

When the zone calls, you must listen. You never know how long being in the zone lasts. It is a cardinal rule - you must take advantage of every second that you are in the zone.

My original fear that my daughter was going to die before BettyJane and myself has now been replaced with the fear that she is going to outlive us.

The fulfillment of your dreams lies within you and you alone. When you understand and accept this then nothing, or no one can deny you greatness.

It seems like it has been forever. But i getbthe feeling that forever hasn't even started yet.

When you decide that you are going to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes, sometime during your seemingly infinite journey the weathervane will just change direction and the new winds of positive change will blow at your back instead of into your face and things will just get easier and you will start to see progress right out of the blue. When that day happens you will know that it is just a matter of time. And time is what I have.

Q: Does it get easier? A: No, you just get better at it.

Know that there is something inside of you that is greater than any obstacle.

In a proud fatherly sadomasicisticly way, I am thrilled when I get hit. As every deep purple bruise on my body represented a perfect swing. If I were to lift my shirt at any time there would be 4-5 bruises on my body. ... As soon as I was able to, I would throw batting practice again from the short distance, and take another shot if necessary to keep the boys in the zone.

There is something special about baseball that goes far deeper than being a game. It is the father-son relationship that is built, the life lessons that are taught in the process of playing a game and the ability to overcome not succeeding all of the time and still considering yourself a success.

I know the answer to improving Jess's condition doesn't lay in tears the answer is in sweat.

The key to this world is to be loved by your fellow man and to be liked by yourself.

A dear friend of mine recently asked me how did I find happiness after all that i have been through? After thinking about it for a while I realized that you don't find happiness, it is not hidden, it's right there out in the open. Happiness is a decision not something that is lost. You just have to recognize all that there is to be happy about and decide to be happy because everything in life is miracle.