Tuesday, August 21, 2012
"You've Got A Friend In Me"
Saturday, August 18, 2012
{Unspoken}
A few months ago I ran across a blog of a fellow photog who was
recently diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer. She had her family
photos taken and THIS was on the video, I had immediate tears.
One word
on one hand had THAT much impact on me...and so I thought...and
"Unspoken" was born! Then I thought...what could we do with TWO words...and below you will find that answer. THANK you to
everyone who came out. It was a great project, with a lot of
emotion and laughter. I LOVE that God has trusted me with a gift of
loving people, and making them comfortable to share their story.
{Autism Sucks}
{Empty Wound}
Chad and I met my sophomore year in high school. Feb 21st 2006 we began
dating and called ourselves a couple. We hang out and stuff before that
but that's when we made it official. We dated about three of years before
we married on Aug 1st 2009. We were engaged for a year and build a new
house in Bernie before was married. We have been happily married now for
three years. We were married two years before we decided it was time to
start a family together. We began trying on Feb 9th and i was pregnant by
march 16th. We broke the news to the parents on march 21st. by having
them down for supper and having a cake made that said our family is growing by two feet. March 29th I began spotting but the doctor was not
too concerned at that point. The spotting continued into the follow
week of April 2nd and I went in to have some test. then by late wed April 4th the bleeding got more severe and called the doctor. The
doctor said to get to the hospital if it got worst. well i was out town
working w chad on job sit and we wanted to get close to home to my
doctor and close to family bc we kind of know by that time it was over
or so we thought and we was just praying at hoping for what ever god
wanted and whatever was best to do what had to be done but we still had
that little hope for it to be normal and everything to be ok. So we drove
always from Whitevalley to Cape to the hospital. Thursday April 5th I was
given the news that testing showed I had lost the baby.
{Full Heart}
I was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 15 and had endless
trouble. By the age of 28 I had 3 miscarriages and 8 surgeries when
the Dr. finally said I would have little chance of conceiving and less
chance of carrying full term. At the age of 29, I gave up hope having
my own child when I had to have my 9th surgery, a hysterectomy.
God blessed me with an amazing husband who shares his 3 children
& grandchildren with me and a great friend whose 2 kids have adopted
me as their mom since theirs is not active in their life. Our saying in
our home is "Real families have no steps".God made sure that even though my womb was never full, my heart always is.
{Color Blind}
I deal with the racial prejudice of people everyday when they see my
beautiful daughter. Before giving her the chance to show how loving and
color blind she is they judge her because of the skin color. I know I/she will deal with this for the rest of our lives. But I know as I
teach her a different way she will be a better person. I love my
special brown baby!
{Forget MeNot}
According to the Alzheimer's Association, as many as 5.4 million
Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is
now the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is among the
top ten diseases in the U. S. that cannot be prevented, cured, or even
slowed. I personally know how devastating this disease can be because my
grandmother had it in her early 60s and my mother has been
progressively loosing her ability to remember. It is hard when someone
you love so much cannot even remember who you are anymore.
{Obesity Isn't Chosen}
"Obesity can be hereditary but that does not mean it has to be my
destiny. Being obese is not an excuse, it does not mean that you have to
be overweight for your entire life, it means you have to fight for your
entire life. My name is Honor and my sister is Elizabeth. We have been
obese since we were children and have never successfully lost weight.
Over the past year we have fought to get control of our obesity and
through sheer determination we have both lost more than 50 pounds each!
We have a long way to go, but understanding our obesity has made a huge
difference in our lives. "
{Cancer Sux}
Jayden's dad has B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and is steadily fighting it. Also has been diagnosed to have colon cancer. Her maw maw has been fighting breast cancer for 2 yrs. she is still in remission :) and has had a total of 9 surgeries due to the cancer and reconstruction
{Drug Abuse}
My sister has been battling a drug addiction for 18 yrs. She's had her ups and downs and in-betweens. It's very heartbreaking to all of us. i just want her to know that I love her with all my heart and ill be there no matter what!
{Restore Family}
I was raised with old fashioned family values. My extended family was
very close - so close that most of my cousins are like brothers and
sisters. I am in law enforcement and see family's torn apart daily and I
also see no family values or respect for family everyday. It breaks my
heart to see this world torn apart daily due to the lack of family
unity and respect. Even my own family!!!!
{Premature Babies}
We had been trying to get pregnant for months but it was unsuccessful so
we went for help. In February of 2004 I started taking fertility pills
and in June of 2004 we found out I was pregnant. I remember taking the
test and looking at the test and saying to myself it has two lines…it
has two lines…I went running into the bedroom jumped on Brian and was
screaming and crying saying go look in the bathroom it has two lines. He
says what has to lines I said the test. He got up and went in to see
what I was talking about and he stood there saying what does that mean
if it has two lines, I said that means we are going to be parents. So
we decided I would call his dad and he would call my mom at 5:30 in the
morning. What a wake up call they got. Things were going great with the
pregnancy. It was until I was 3 months along and that is when I started
to hurt but not in usual places I started to hurt in my left leg a lot
to where I could not walk or sit for very long. Doctor John Patty
checked every time I went for check ups and even when I was not
scheduled for my appointments nothing was wrong. So we just assumed it
was the BABY pinching a nerve. Every ultra sound we had we were told
one little BABY this was going to be the last ultra sound until we got
to find out the sex of the baby. My mom went with me and she had been
teasing me that there was going to be twins that the other baby had been
hiding and I kept telling her to stop thinking that way one child is
enough. We get into the ultra sound room and my mom is still talking
about twins and I tell Dr. Patty that I could not be having twins he had
not seen two before and he tells me the other could be hiding. Just as
he says that he says oh do you see what I see on the screen and all I
could say was that is not two babies is it and he says yes my girl it is
twins. Brian was sick so he was at my sister’s and we call to tell him
and we had not even said twins and he was already saying we are having
twins. So that explains the hurting in my leg. We found out the sex of
our babies at 6 months. In between that I had been having so much
problems and in and out of the hospital. We had a scare that one of my
placentas had deflated. One had ripped from the wall and much more. At
six months someone rear ended me and I went to see Dr. Patty, but
everything looked okay with the babies. Two weeks later I had an
appointment with Dr. Patty and I had went to work that day but the night
before I had been hurting worse in my leg but all we had come up with
is my baby boy was on a nerve. So that day I worked Brian and I took
off for the doctors my appointment which was at 2:00 pm but at 4:00 pm
still was waiting to see the doctor. I had noticed that I had not peed
all day and carrying twins and being 6 months pregnant you are going to
be a peeing machine so I told Brian I was going to go try and pee. So I
went into the bathroom nothing stood back up and I felt like I had to
pee so I sat back down nothing so I just went back out to the waiting
room. I went to sit back down by Brian and I felt a big bubble and all
of a sudden I was wet, so I looked over at Brian and said my water just
broke he said “you are only 6 months along you can’t be in labor yet.”
So I went to the desk and I told the lady my water broke and she says to
me are you sure you did not pee yourself and I said yes mama I am
soaked. So I get immediately sent back and I get checked I am dilated
to a 4 they send me to the hospital and Brian calls my mom and his dad.
I end up having an emergency c-section and my babies are born at 5:59
pm November 4, 2004 and they get sent off to St. Louis Children’s
Hospital and this momma is so drugged from the medicine they have me on
that she never remembers seeing her Gage Allen and Serena Nichole.
Brian is calling every hour on the hour from the hospital, because he knows when I wake up from the medicine before they knock me back out I want an update on my babies. Dr. Patty finally releases me late Friday night because he knows this momma is heading to St. Louis whether he liked it or not. Come early Saturday morning I am setting at Children’s Hospital listening to a foreign doctor who mind you I could not understand try to explain to me the fate of my children. He wanted to tell me that my son’s head was like a room full of water filling up and we needed to find a way to get it out, we looked at him and told him we didn’t need no foreign doctor telling us about a room and water, we wanted straight answers about our son and daughter and if he could not give us that then we wanted another doctor. Within a week we had an American doctor and we were being told straight what was happening. My son had fluid on his brain and that it just kept getting worse and that his organs were shutting down and we basically had three choices to make and we had to make them fast. These were the choices a parent should never have to choose from: 1. let your child die lonely 2. Let us take him off meds without you ever holding him or 3. Hold your child and we will come in and take away his meds slowly. Will any parent would want to hold their child and that was our choice to hold our precious son in our arms and cherish the time we could have with him until he chose to go to heaven and he did chose to go he pulled is breathing tube out and our baby was gone. Gage passed away eight days after he was born.
With our son gone we had to be strong for our baby girl Serena Nichole, she was a fighter. She was determined to make it she gave us scares at times, but she came through every obstacle that was put in her path. We had her off most her meds, she was on a regular breathing machine so we could hold her and that was amazing. I was able to help change her diapers, which scared me because she was so tiny. She loved her daddy she was a good baby for him loved to hear him hum to her. She had more surgeries than you could have imagined. She had both wrist slit to try get blood from her, she had a surgery to close a flapper in her lungs because she was a premature baby and was not able to cry. They both had NIX, which dealt with air in their stomachs. We were up to four pounds with Serena. We had one month left to bring her home until the unthinkable happened. It was December 23, 2004 the hospital called me because we had went home to get clean clothes and take care of business before heading back up. Any ways the hospital had called me and told me that they had been at Serena’s bedside all morning because she had been going into cardiac arrest, which this puzzled me because she was doing great when we left her the night before. They told me she quit peeing for them and much more. All I can remember saying to them is I am on my way you keep me informed and keep performing CPR. Well I was not able to make it to my baby because of the bad weather up near St. Louis but she did have family with her when she passed and I did get to tell her I loved her over the phone they put the phone to her ear so she could hear her mommy’s voice and the words “MOMMY LOVE YOU SERENA NICHOLE.”
It was not until Dr. Fernando, Gage and Serena’s pediatrician called Children’s Hospital to request Serena’s medical records did we find out that Serena had been given an adult dosage of a paralyzing medicine for what they had said was to help heal her NIX.
These words mean a lot to me because my precious babies were premature not by choice weighing in at 1lb 9oz and 1lb 12oz. I have been told even after many years of losing my babies, I tried again but never succeed in getting pregnant, that I may never get the chance to be a mommy again, but I leave that in GODS hands. But I have worked with Bootheel Healthy Start in Sikeston who deals with Low Birth Weight babies (Premature Babies). There are programs that will help parents who are willing to help themselves to prevent premature babies, just ask for the help. To those who just happen to have them because of a health problem let me be the first one to tell you it is not your fault never let anyone tell you that you are to blame for your child’s sickness or death. The best charity for Premature Babies is MARCH OF DIMES. They helped me out when I needed it and I will help them out whenever and wherever. Premature babies are more common than you think and deaths are as common. Help your premature baby out and get help yourself and for those mothers that are like me and it is just your body remember technology has changed and we can prevent premature babies as well just ask your doctor.
Brian is calling every hour on the hour from the hospital, because he knows when I wake up from the medicine before they knock me back out I want an update on my babies. Dr. Patty finally releases me late Friday night because he knows this momma is heading to St. Louis whether he liked it or not. Come early Saturday morning I am setting at Children’s Hospital listening to a foreign doctor who mind you I could not understand try to explain to me the fate of my children. He wanted to tell me that my son’s head was like a room full of water filling up and we needed to find a way to get it out, we looked at him and told him we didn’t need no foreign doctor telling us about a room and water, we wanted straight answers about our son and daughter and if he could not give us that then we wanted another doctor. Within a week we had an American doctor and we were being told straight what was happening. My son had fluid on his brain and that it just kept getting worse and that his organs were shutting down and we basically had three choices to make and we had to make them fast. These were the choices a parent should never have to choose from: 1. let your child die lonely 2. Let us take him off meds without you ever holding him or 3. Hold your child and we will come in and take away his meds slowly. Will any parent would want to hold their child and that was our choice to hold our precious son in our arms and cherish the time we could have with him until he chose to go to heaven and he did chose to go he pulled is breathing tube out and our baby was gone. Gage passed away eight days after he was born.
With our son gone we had to be strong for our baby girl Serena Nichole, she was a fighter. She was determined to make it she gave us scares at times, but she came through every obstacle that was put in her path. We had her off most her meds, she was on a regular breathing machine so we could hold her and that was amazing. I was able to help change her diapers, which scared me because she was so tiny. She loved her daddy she was a good baby for him loved to hear him hum to her. She had more surgeries than you could have imagined. She had both wrist slit to try get blood from her, she had a surgery to close a flapper in her lungs because she was a premature baby and was not able to cry. They both had NIX, which dealt with air in their stomachs. We were up to four pounds with Serena. We had one month left to bring her home until the unthinkable happened. It was December 23, 2004 the hospital called me because we had went home to get clean clothes and take care of business before heading back up. Any ways the hospital had called me and told me that they had been at Serena’s bedside all morning because she had been going into cardiac arrest, which this puzzled me because she was doing great when we left her the night before. They told me she quit peeing for them and much more. All I can remember saying to them is I am on my way you keep me informed and keep performing CPR. Well I was not able to make it to my baby because of the bad weather up near St. Louis but she did have family with her when she passed and I did get to tell her I loved her over the phone they put the phone to her ear so she could hear her mommy’s voice and the words “MOMMY LOVE YOU SERENA NICHOLE.”
It was not until Dr. Fernando, Gage and Serena’s pediatrician called Children’s Hospital to request Serena’s medical records did we find out that Serena had been given an adult dosage of a paralyzing medicine for what they had said was to help heal her NIX.
These words mean a lot to me because my precious babies were premature not by choice weighing in at 1lb 9oz and 1lb 12oz. I have been told even after many years of losing my babies, I tried again but never succeed in getting pregnant, that I may never get the chance to be a mommy again, but I leave that in GODS hands. But I have worked with Bootheel Healthy Start in Sikeston who deals with Low Birth Weight babies (Premature Babies). There are programs that will help parents who are willing to help themselves to prevent premature babies, just ask for the help. To those who just happen to have them because of a health problem let me be the first one to tell you it is not your fault never let anyone tell you that you are to blame for your child’s sickness or death. The best charity for Premature Babies is MARCH OF DIMES. They helped me out when I needed it and I will help them out whenever and wherever. Premature babies are more common than you think and deaths are as common. Help your premature baby out and get help yourself and for those mothers that are like me and it is just your body remember technology has changed and we can prevent premature babies as well just ask your doctor.
{Judging Hurts}
When i tell my friends stories bout me n my moms girlfriend they always
ask "girlfriend?". Then I have to explain that she is gay. After i tell
them they always look and talk about my mom n her girlfriend like they are
bad people. Like she is a bad mother to my brother and me!! My mom gets
judged and anybody else with that life style like they are all bad people
and not how amazing most of them can really be when you actually get to
know them.
{Child Abuse}
When I was born my dad was in the marines and my mom had abused me
untill he came back three months after i was born, my grandma came all
the way from Marble Hill MO and came and got me form North Carolina.
When my mom finally came back and got me she would abuse me for "
punishment" and i cant really remember anything that happened but my
grandma has pictures of teeth marks when my mom bit me bruises from when
she would hit me ect., after she got caught my doing that she would
stick things under my toe nails and I would say "why did mommy do this
to me if she loves me" to my Grandma. And now as of August 10th 2012 I
will be with my dad for three years without contact or seeing my mom for
three years
{ADHD's Hard}
I chose these two words because my oldest daughter was diagnosed with
ADHD at the age of six. She's been on medication since then and will be
eleven years old this fall. I know some people that think that ADHD is a
made-up condition or the result of bad parenting. Many can attest, that
is NOT the case. There have been times when I was at my wit's end and
bawling like a baby because I had tried everything I could think of, to
handle this child. Nothing works for very long.
Simply put, dealing with a child with ADHD IS HARD!
Simply put, dealing with a child with ADHD IS HARD!
{Equal Rights}
Most people seem to be under the assumption that when a non-heterosexual
is talking about wanting equality they are simply referring to "gay
marriage." First, let me clarify the marriage issue; we do not want to
get "gay married," we simply want to get MARRIED. Second, the denial of
equality to non-heterosexuals in America has devastatingly negative
affects on more than just our civil right to marriage, just to name a
few; our children, our careers, our education, our health care benefits,
our legal benefits, obtaining a family or spousal membership at a
public place of your choice, adoption rights, or medical insurance
coverage for fertility treatment. The last one was denied to me purely
on the basis of, and I quote, "lack of exposure to sperm," even though
the company my partner is employed by offers a little thing called
"domestic partner" insurance benefits. SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL
{NO H8}
I would like to start with a glimpse of who I am. I am a mother of 2 beautiful children, and long for more. I
get out of bed way too early everyday so that I can go to work. I work
2 jobs to make ends meet. I pay too much at the gas pump. I have a
mortgage and a slew of other folks that take a chunk out of my paycheck. I love my family and would do anything to protect them. I am a friend. I am
a Christian and go to church. I am the one you and your family call to
save your life, and I will do so with a smile. I am human. Sounds a
lot like you right? The only difference is that I love a woman. I am
gay.
My message is no hate. I long for the day that we accept each other for our differences. I don’t expect that everyone will understand or agree with me being gay. I am not asking you to be gay. Just because I love a woman does not make me a pedophile, nor does it make me less of a mother or a person. I am not crazy and I have the same struggles as you. I don’t wear my sexuality on my sleeve and often I am mistaken for being straight. Because of this, I hear almost on a daily basis jokes that are told, slurs that are spoken, and judgments that I am expected to agree with. All
of which are born out of hatred. I would hope that someday we can
learn to accept each other for our differences. Maybe the next time you
go to tell a joke, stare, or make an off color comment in regards to
someone’s sexuality consider the person you are talking to probably has a
gay sister, brother, mother, father, aunt uncle, best friend, or maybe
just maybe they are gay and too scared of what you might say if you
knew.
{I'm Worthy}
Hey my story is simple given the fact that both my parents walked out on
me w promises to be there & never showing up & the emotional
abuse i went through with my sons biological father its made me feel like
i wasn't smart pretty or worthy of anyone's love. Like there's something
wrong w me & no one deserves to feel that. That is why I'm worthy.
{NO HATE}
It's not nice to hate people but you can hate spinach because it's gross. But God
made everyone special so you can't hate them. Like me I'm special brown.
{Have Confidence}
Confidence is the best accessory a woman can wear.
{Broken Bond}
I have an amazing bond with my parents, an irreplaceable bond with my older brother, and an incredible bond with my husband, but losing my sister left a hole in my soul and a forever broken bond in my heart.
{Stop Bullying}
I have always stood up for kids that get picked on or
that would get made fun of. It hurts to be the odd one out, when I see
kids getting picked on i try my best to make them feel better after
words. kids shouldn't have to go through this. Its not right for people
to do to other people. i have been raised with the saying " treat people
the way you want to be treated" and if someone ever picks on me I would hope that someone would help me!
{THINK GOOD FEEL GOOD}
March
2011 I grabbed a stapler at work and didn't have enough of a grip to use
it. For a year and a half, I've been seeing doctors all over the
country, trying to get a diagnosis. I have extreme tightness in all the
tendons in my body and contractures are forming in the joints in my
hands, knees, and feet. The only term my doctors have been able to use
is "fibrosing disease" and I just learned that this past Friday, July
13, 2012. My tendons are fibrosing(forming scar tissue).. It's
irreversible and will only get worse. I have a tough road ahead of me
and it's easy to just lay in bed and be mad at the world. However, I
dont have cancer. I'm not confined to a wheelchair. I'm not losing my
memories. Others have it so much worse than I do. I try my hardest to
keep a positive attitude about my future. I always say "You gotta think
good to feel good!"
{Too Sweet}
I've had this going on about three
years. It was a total shock and a scary feeling knowing my life had
changed forever. People don't really see diabetes as a big deal and
honestly before I got it I felt the same way. It flipped my whole world
around and its a different problem every single day. I'm very blessed
to have such amazing people in my life who have kept me sane. And i
still have my bad days where all I want to do is cry, but staying strong
is the key. Like Abby says, "Think good. Feel good." I try not to get
angry at God because he gave me this for a reason and for whatever that
might be I'm still extremely grateful. 'Too sweet' is just
one of the many quips I've used as a personal pick me up. Diabetes can
take its toll on an individual. So to make myself feel better I usually
make fun of my diabetes by coming up with stupid remarks. It may sound
silly but it makes me feel like I'm not letting the disease win.
{
You never know how much two little
words like "You're Fat" can hurt someone or impact their life forever.
This is something I was told as a teen. 14 years later I still have
self-image problems...some days it's a struggle, others it's not so bad.
You are constantly in a battle with yourself, you never feel pretty
enough or thin enough. I am so thankful and feel so blessed to have a
wonderful husband who is caring, compassionate & encouraging. He
knows just what to say on days I am down on myself and knew just what to
say all those years ago to help me conquer it. It doesn't have to be a
family member who can see the signs of someone struggling with eating
disorders. All it takes is someone who cares enough, who will listen and
not judge, and someone willing to help. For all the girls out there,
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL just the way you are, the way God meant for you to be.
Never let anyone make you feel inadequate or insecure about yourself!
You can overcome this.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
To
the ones who have bullied or made someone feel this way, I simply pray
for you, and pray that you understand how your words can hurt and leave
everlasting scars on someone. I pray you are never made to feel the way
you have made others feel.
{Promote Bonding}
I've been a clinical therapist for many years now. When I first
began, people typically came to me to deal with specific issues. Abuse,
sexual trauma, a death in the family, bullying...the list goes on.
We'd talk and work on those issues, and with the healthy bond of a
supportive friend and family network, the person would reach a resolve
and move on with life.
Now, a huge part of my practice is simply bonding. Yes, the people who come to me still have issues to work through, but their biggest issue is that they do not have a bond to anyone. They feel utterly alone. As difficult as it is to see with adults, it absolutely breaks my heart when it's children. Therapy with these children is not about working on specific issues. We get to that eventually, but the first and foremost thing we have to do is bond. Children whose parents have given them up and for whom there is no other family member who wants them. These kids need someone. It is not imperative that they bond to a parent, but it is imperative that they bond to someone. Our children are NOT DISPOSABLE!
Now, a huge part of my practice is simply bonding. Yes, the people who come to me still have issues to work through, but their biggest issue is that they do not have a bond to anyone. They feel utterly alone. As difficult as it is to see with adults, it absolutely breaks my heart when it's children. Therapy with these children is not about working on specific issues. We get to that eventually, but the first and foremost thing we have to do is bond. Children whose parents have given them up and for whom there is no other family member who wants them. These kids need someone. It is not imperative that they bond to a parent, but it is imperative that they bond to someone. Our children are NOT DISPOSABLE!
{Fuck Cancer}
Andrew James Jarrell, my brother, born April 25th, 1985 and died December 9th, 2010 from pancreatic cancer. He left behind a son.
{Protect Children}
To report possible child abuse please follow the link below.
http://www.dss.mo.gov/cd/can.htm
{Give Up}
When I was 16 I had JT, my oldest son. When people found out I was
pregnant most thought, if they didn't just tell me, that I would quit
school. I graduated high school when I was supposed to and since then
have finished two colleges degrees and currently working on my third and
fourth degree. Never give up on what you want and don't let people tell
you you can't do something. Don't make excuses, if you want something
bad enough you can do anything.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)