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Joy Frank-Collins

@joyfc

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At the end of the day, I'm just a writer, standing in a ballpark, asking for wine. #PositiveThoughts #PositiveEnergy

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1000/10 @thechicks - Absolutely no notes! Brilliant show, loved the format, the three women sitting front and center in their power, and of course, the music! #detroit #Takingthelongway #20years taken in Fox Theatre by @joyfc

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6 days ago

Three years. It feels like a second and a lifetime. In so many ways so much has changed since we lost Ethan, but also nothing has shifted a bit. I think for each of us the hole in our lives remains - but we’re starting to grow around it.
While we each me and the boys grieve differently and give each other space to do that, we came together to raise our glasses @theohiotaproom in his honor today followed by a meal at @latavolaonfirst - both tops on his Grandview essentials list. As for the song - a little known fact about Ethan was his love for Pink’s big choruses (Plus “Hips Don’t Lie” doesn’t quite have the same message). We love you and miss you forever, E❤️ taken in Grandview Heights, Ohio by @joyfc

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9 days ago

Today will forever be known as the day the kids who decided to play the xylophone in high school band finally understood their calling. The halftime shows next week are gonna be LIT @taylorswift by @joyfc

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11 days ago

Happy Birthday, my love. We love you and miss you. taken in Grandview Heights, Ohio by @joyfc

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a month ago

Three years ago today, Ethan received a bone marrow transplant, desperately needed to cure the leukemia he’d been fighting for 10 months. We learned a transplant was his only hope back in February 2023 and without @nmdp_org and @gfl_stammzellspende , the two organizations who made typing and donation possible, he wouldn’t have made it to September 1. Without his donor, the remarkable Dominic (who I met last October when he and his husband, Michael, welcomed me and the boys into their hometown and home) he wouldn’t have had his “rebirthday” just two days before his actual birthday - and we wouldn’t have had the hope that fueled us through those long difficult months. This story didn’t have the happy ending we all desperately wished for, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t wake up every day thankful for the people and organizations who worked so hard to give Ethan a fighting chance. #Thankyou #Rebirthday #NMDP #GebenFurLeben #Donate taken in Grandview Heights, Ohio by @joyfc

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a month ago

On August 26, 2025, I bought a bunch of eucalyptus @traderjoes in Dublin, OH, to turn my shower into a little spa experience (thanks for the tip @salliegreenberg !) But I got way more than a delightful smelling bouquet. A tiny snail had nestled itself in amongst the eucalyptus and well, a year later Tradarius Joseph Frank-Collins (Joe, for short) (credit to the insta personality from whom I learned the store’s government name!) has brought an infinite amount of joy to my home. He grew out of the little jar where I first kept him, then his first terrarium and is now hanging out in a deluxe “jumping spider habitat” on the kitchen island. He loves zucchini, iceberg lettuce, sweet potatoes and cuttlefish bones - which help keep his shell strong. He’s even gone on a trip with me and the boys to Pittsburgh! I swear he turns his head when I say his name and I’m so happy he hitchhiked into my life. Happy Gotcha Day, Joe!☮️❤️🐌 taken in Grandview Heights, Ohio by @joyfc

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a month ago

A tale of an off-Friday: didn’t get the windows cleaned, but I did source Sarti (thanks @grandviewbottleshop1 ) - the Sarti Spritz is officially my drink of August! by @joyfc

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2 months ago

Spending some time this week with the boys in Pittsburgh, specifically for the @pittsburghpirates @dodgers series. Our first @mlb games since Ethan died. Baseball played such an important role in our family - it has always been the one thing we all loved and eagerly did together - even when the boys were crusty cranky teens. And the Pirates have always been our team. When Ethan got sick, watching games from the couch or hospital helped the typically over-scheduled professional pass time he didn’t know what to do with. It gave him an escape from worry and fear and pain. Baseball was my constant when I was grieving my dad and helped springboard a freelance magazine-writing side hustle that has brought me immense happiness through the years. Last night PNC Park, for me, felt like has all those times we’ve visited in the past - but it also felt a little flat. I felt a void - or maybe a vacuum. Something was missing. And then, it rained. It wasn’t too hard and it was a passing shower, so we did what Frank-Collins’ do and stuck it out in our seats. And we were rewarded with a rainbow that spanned the Pittsburgh skyline. To me it was a smile that shone to hazel eyes. Telling us he was there too, that he approved of the seats I picked, that while we were three physically, spiritually, we were still four. Last night there was crying in baseball, but only for a few minutes. #Baseball #PNCPark #Grief taken in PNC Park by @joyfc

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4 months ago

I don’t take advantage of this view enough. #columbus #skyline by @joyfc

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5 months ago

I see you Scorpio moon on the rise. More importantly, I feel you. #moon #scorpio taken in Grandview Heights, Ohio by @joyfc

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5 months ago

Once we set a timeframe for a visit to Austria, Dominic asked me if I might be interested in doing something to raise awareness for bone marrow donation while I was there. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE a good event and was all in. But what proceeded to come together was beyond amazing. Michael, who I’m convinced knows basically everyone in central Austria, called on his contacts and pulled together (with Dominic’s help - but he’d say it was all Michael’s effort) organized a “typing campaign” to add new donors to the Austria registry, “Geben für Leben” (Give for life). Within 4 hours, we registered 68 new donors to the registry! A youth group comprised of kids of local farmers, in their teens and early-20’s, ran the registration stations - even making homemade cakes and treats for guests. So many special people came to the event - including Dominic’s parents, Michael’s Dad and his girlfriend (and Aron!). The man who ran the typing camping in 2017 when Dominic joined the registry (it was the first in that area and they have had 16 donors from that initial activity - Dominic and the man who ran the campaign included) also showed up and I got an opportunity to thank him for actions years ago that had a real impact on real lives. There were over 10 corporate sponsors for the event, including the host site Welser - which has a factory in Cleveland - where Ethan received his donation. Katharina from Geben für Leben ran the registration portion of the event brilliantly - she even spent time interviewing many people present for future promotion on their website and socials. I repped NMDP, the org that runs the US donor program, by wearing my t-shirt and talked about the work we are doing stateside to ensure everyone has a chance at getting lifesaving treatment. I loved getting a chance to meet so many of Michael and Dominic’s friends - who showed up in great numbers - as well as Dominic’s parents. As a mom, I wanted to be sure they knew what an amazing human they raised (although I know they know). What a way to end a special trip! Ethan would have loved it! #gebenfürleben #NMDP #donatebonemarrow #Austria #Travel (newspaper article about the event linked in comments) taken in Gresten, Niederösterreich, Austria by @joyfc

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a year ago

Why Austria? Because I wanted to close a circle that began at the Cleveland Clinic with a very sick man and his very scared wife and children. Ethan’s stem cell donor was a now 37 year-old man from Austria named Dominic (first photo). In the spring we were connected and spent the next 6 months trading emails - at first talking about Ethan and the donation process, then talking about our lives in general. I told him about the boys and my work and my family, and he told me about his husband (Michael, second photo) and the farm they run and their dog, Aron (second to last photo, along with Michael’s dad and his girlfriend). At his graduation in May, C asked “When are we going to visit them?” To which I responded, “I’d love to, but settle down we just met and we don’t want them to think we’re stalkers.” My next email from Dominic included an invitation to visit. And so we did. As a writer, I am working to put words to the experience, but I don’t know that those words will ever come. We spent two and a half days exploring their small community - meeting their friends and families, eating amazing Austrian food, sampling the local beer (and Michael’s dad’s mead), exploring their farm, and even using our shared history to do some good. People asked us everywhere we went what our favorite place in Austria was and hands down it was visiting this lovely community - not just a geographical location but a place built in the heart. Dominic and Michael opened up their home and lives to us and it was quite possibly the most meaningful travel experience I’ve ever had. I don’t know if I can ever explain the immediate connection I felt with Dominic - it was as if we already knew each other in some otherworldly way, like family but also deeper. As we hugged goodbye at the train station in Amstetten, it crossed my mind that when I hugged Dominic (he was a 7 out of 10 match) that aside from my boys and E’s dad, it was as close as I would get to hugging my husband - DNA wise - on Earth. Being able to thank Dominic for the gift he gave us, life and hope, was truly an honor. ⭕️#Donate #Austria #Travel #bonemarrowdonor by @joyfc

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a year ago