january 23, 1996 – october 23, 2009

Healthy children.

Healthy, happy children.

The means to care for an ailing dog.

A job. With benefits. Interesting work.

A computer.

A wam cat next to me, hunkering close and losing his shit (like the rest of the pack) because their canine leader is hospitalized.

New underwear!

A sport I love. An obsession (weight lifting) that’s actually healthy.

Swimming. At all. Regardless of speed.

Perspective. Hard earned.

A stolen 3 day weekend on the beach.

Love. Deeper now than I ever thought it could be when I met him 17 years and 1 day ago.

Steak. Nom, nom.

Sometimes it takes something extraordinary to make a friend who lives just a few miles away.

In my case, it was starting a blog.

The WingDangDoo is one of about a hundred blogs featuring this post today. Yes, a hundred. My friend Kevin of Always Home and Uncool wrote this post to raise awareness in the blogosphere of juvenile myositis, a rare autoimmune disease his daughter was diagnosed with on this day seven years ago. The day also happens to be his lovely wife’s birthday.

Having met the entire Uncool family, I have to tell you, it’s quite the misnomer. They are lovely, welcoming, and exceptionally cool people.

Several years on, it’s impossible to look at Thing 1 and imagine she was diagnosed with this debilitating disease. She is a beautiful child, full of energy and blessed with intelligent,  beautiful eyes that (sorry, Kevin) will be leveling boys’ hearts none too long from now.

I’d like to wish Kevin’s lovely bride the happiest of birthdays. I am sure is a bittersweet day for her. I’m keeping the Uncools (especially Rhonda and Megan) close to my heart today.

~~~

Our pediatrician admitted it early on.

The rash on our 2-year-old daughter’s cheeks, joints and legs was something he’d never seen before.

The next doctor wouldn’t admit to not knowing.

He rattled off the names of several skins conditions — none of them seemingly worth his time or bedside manner — then quickly prescribed antibiotics and showed us the door.

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