The Sisters Marquette Blush is an estate grown and a descendent of the Pinot Noir Grape. By removing the skin of the grapes before the red seeps into the juice gives this wine its beautiful color and soft flavors. The proceeds of this years wine will be split between the Strobel family and Alzheimer / Dementia research

The Background of The Sisters: 

Cassidy Gehman (the great-niece of Kevin and Cindy Bishop) is the youngest of the four girls who inspired the picture featured on this special limited-release wine and with her sisters coined the phrase “The Sisters”.

In February of 2020, at the age of 3, Cassidy was diagnosed with High-Risk Neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer. Over the next 15 months she spent over 115 nights in the hospital and completed 5 rounds of chemotherapy, tumor resection surgery, 12 days of radiation, MIBG therapy, 2 stem-cell transplants, and 5 rounds of immunotherapy. Much of her treatment required her to be away from her three older sisters, Luella, Ginger, and Audra, who lovingly were referred to as “The Sisters”. She repeatedly amazed doctors, nurses, friends, and family during this difficult time in her life.

The Gehman Family is forever grateful for the incredible care she received at CHOP and thrilled to report she is doing great! Cassidy is now 3 years off-treatment and is a sweet and wild 7-year-old who loves going to school, helping her Daddy on the farm, and playing with her 3 older sisters and her dog. While Cassidy’s life is mostly “normal” these days, she does have various side effects of treatment that have affected her hearing, thyroid, vision, and growth. She continues to have follow-ups and is monitored for other possible side effects.

About the Strobel Family – A Story of Dementia

Up until 2015, the Strobel family was like any other, living their best life in suburban Philadelphia. John and Karen had three children, Jack, Henry, and Rachel who were thriving in middle and high school. John had just retired from his 35-year career at North Penn School District and started a consulting firm. While Karen enjoyed working with youth and families in a local church.

In August of 2015, Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer. For the next year, John held down the fort while she underwent treatment. During Karen’s “year on the couch,”as the family referred to it, John began exhibiting atypical behaviors. He had always been a meticulous, methodical man who never let anything “slip through the cracks”. However, he began making some financial, social, and relational mistakes. They had just chalked up these missteps as a result of dealing with the stress of Karen’s diagnosis, having three teenagers in the house, and just simply getting older. But, as Karen came out of her chemo fog, she found some of John’s behaviors concerning to the point of making an appointment with his doctor to get a cognitive test. He didn’t think there was anything wrong, but Karen insisted that they go to get things checked out. In the Spring of 2018, John had an MRI of his brain and his primary care doctor said the results were normal. The Strobel family went on living their life until summer of 2018. 

By the summer of 2018, it was clear that something was wrong. John and Karen went to Penn Memory Center and were blessed to see one of the top neurologists in the country who discovered some Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Over the next few months, John underwent extensive testing which included PET scans, Lumbar Puncture, another MRI, and neuropsychological testing with the hope to find a cause for his MCI. At the end of November 2018, they were on their way to hear the results of months of testing. When they looked at each other and agreed that as long as it wasn’t progressive, they could handle anything together as they had just kicked cancer’s ass together. However, when they met with the doctor they found out that he had had Primary Progressive Aphasia-logopenic variant, a rare form of early onset dementia under the Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) family of dementias. 

That began their life with dementia. The Strobel family is six years past that first MRI. However, it seems like a lifetime ago. Life is very hard and sad for Karen and their children, watching John disappear and fade away before their eyes is an excruciating pain they wish on no one. They tried to live as much as they could before they couldn’t. They spent as much time with family and friends as they could the year following John’s Diagnosis and even went to the Grand Canyon at John’s request. Their two sons have since graduated college and their daughter graduated from high school. Travel and socializing became difficult early on and now are almost impossible without severe behavioral consequences. As a result they now live a quiet life. Karen stopped working a year ago to be John’s full-time care provider. Their three children help as much as they can, especially their one son who lives at home and they have a great supportive group of friends.

The Strobel family recently received a 1-3 year diagnosis from their neurologist and are living for today, as tomorrow isn’t promised.