My story so far has been one of survival and struggle… one of love and pain… one of family and emptiness… my story so far is only that- a story. When I tell it, it feels like I am telling it about someone else. The only part that has always felt real was the destruction and deconstruction of the life I knew and the person I was. Survival is only half the battle.
I battled Stage IV NHL for 6 months through 6 rounds of chemo and 3 rounds of a clinical trial. As the cancer waged a war on my body and the medicine waged a war on my cancer, my soul was caught in the crossfire. Within months of being diagnosed, 3 other people (friends & acquaintances) around my age were also fighting cancer. Today, I am the only one still alive. It is this that has immobilized me, frozen me in a state of oblivion. I am not driven. I stopped dreaming. I have become so painfully aware that I was not the one worth saving, and it hurts me every day.
But here I am now, with this opportunity for redemption. With this chance to earn the wonderful things people have said about me and be as strong as they think I am… and to believe for the first time that maybe my purpose in this world is one worthy of a second chance.
I am not the “woman of the year”, but perhaps I could be.
It wasn’t until 2013, after I recovered from my last of 10+ post-cancer surgeries to repair a bile duct in my chest that had been crushed by a tumor, that the hardest part of my journey began. The people around me couldn’t understand why I was unable to function now that I was “better”. How could I be so strong for those brutal two years only to fall apart now? How could I be so sad when I had every reason to be happy? I was broken. I was drained.
In 2015, some might say that I found myself again, but that wasn’t the case at all. I was finally able to put together the remnants of my world crashing down and create something new. As I look ahead , I am anxious and excited for what’s to come- it’s been years since I could say that. Maybe this is my year- my year to stop being all talk- my year to fall in love with the world again- my year to dream and achieve- my year to make a difference and earn this second life I have been given that so many others were not.
I say that I am grateful all the time- for the support, the love, the medicine. But when I look into my 3 year old nephews eyes and think about how close I came to never knowing him, I feel like the luckiest person on the planet. I hope what we are doing here will allow so many others to feel that same way.
I am not the “woman of the year”, but perhaps I could be.
If you’d like to help Robyn in her run for Woman of the Year, you can donate now
I am a Dayton native. I left after graduating Fairview High School to attend Haverford College, graduate school at Western Reserve University, and military service in the Air Force in Turkey and Italy. I returned to practice dentistry for 50 years, much of that as a partner with my father, Dr. Jack Saidel. That was always my intention and I have fulfilled it happily.
Now, we have entered the age when down-sizing is becoming a cogent decision. Both of us have dealt with the concept of a smaller residence. We realized that Dayton’s arts are the center of our life’s activities. This made downtown Dayton a major choice for us. Our move downtown puts us at the epicenter of the arts, music, dining and friends.
We also need space for our relatives and children. We regularly fill our big home with their presence for family events. We also host many artists performing here for the opera, Vanguard concerts, etc. We knew a two- or even three-bedroom apartment would be too confining. Many visits to condominium-type dwellings yielded nothing that came close to our needs. We came upon an interesting concept, vertical rather than horizontal, that was advanced by Charles Simms in his design for Monument Walk.
We know the Simms family well. Charlie, as the younger member, and his father Charles are experienced builders and good friends. And we know with Ann Simms looking over their shoulders, everything will be perfect.
Cincinnati native Jon White wasn’t happy stuck behind the wheel of his car. When the 31-year-old landed a job in Dayton, he initially tried to commute from his new job in Dayton back to his home in Cincinnati. But spending hours on the road took its toll on Jon, and he decided to find a new home that offered more freedom and flexibility. “I didn’t feel healthy commuting like that every day. I wanted to live close to work and close to entertainment,” Jon said. The location at Dayton Towers apartment complex 
checked off Jon’s requirements for proximity for 9-to-5 and 5-to-9 activities. “I bike to work just about every day,” he said. “and I still have easy access to the highway if I need to travel somewhere, and it’s a quick trip to access the bike trails for recreation.”
population is more dense, you’ll see more people, and when you walk or bike instead of drive, you have more interactions.” Within his own apartment building, Jon said he has met a wide range of ages and backgrounds of people who choose the convenience and excitement of downtown living. “There are families with kids, senior citizens, University of Dayton and Sinclair College students, young professionals like myself — people from all walks of life live here,” he said. “There’s a real sense of community.”
Mingling with other Dayton Towers residents is how Jon met his group of friends, who enjoy Dayton Towers’ proximity to Oregon District businesses as well as theaters, art galleries, recreational activities, and other amenities within easy walking or leisurely bike riding distance. Of course hanging out on the patio or balconies is a popular choice with the amazing city views. Regardless of how he now spends his additional free time as a downtown resident, Jon said he’s happy with his choice to ditch the commute and dive into the live-work-play environment his downtown address provides. “It’s a lifestyle I prefer to have.”
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