https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGrbbxhKfLstVNvXnCThRQVTdnC
(I can't seem get this link active...you will have to cut and paste in the search bar)
In this season of "It's a Wonderful Time of the Year", hearing some seemingly trival worries of others, I am in awe of the courage of Anna and Joe. Having lived the life of the uncertainty of Parkinson's, I am far more aware of the courage it takes to wake every morning opened handed, facing the day.
Anna and Joe wear courage. Just look at those photos! Read their story. Say a prayer for them. And of course, if you have a few dollars to share with them for medical expenses, please follow the link.
in my words...
joe and anna -
you deserve appreciation
honor
love
care
you have each held laughter
tears
and fearful moments that need hugs
now
take your best moments
put them in jar
then take them out
like cookies
to share
when fear is near
or hugs seem far
you have reflection
gratitude
memories
you will survive
you may stumble
but you will catch one another
let your surroundings sooth you
like the hug of a blanket
let that imagined blanket hold your tears
your laughter
and allow you ‘to be’
with each other
there is a sacredness
hold it close
every day
to find gratitude
learn
love
stumble
trust
love all of you
even in the days of struggle
on the trail of what is now
and in Joe's words from a recent Go Fund Me update...
Though she's in remission, and her future as survivor and thriver look brighter every second, it's been helpful to us to look back at this year she's survived in sheer numbers:
1100+ oral antibiotics
178 oral chemotherapy
120+ blood draws
90+ clinic visits
74 chemotherapy infusion
56 days spent in the hospital
54 days of high dosage steroids
51 blood thinner injections
35+ medicinal infusions
25+ blood product transfusions
13 lumbar punctures and chemotherapy admins
8 blood transfusions
8 sedations
7 bone marrow biopsies
6 antibacterial inhalation treatments
5 X-rays
5 EKGs
4 antiviral injections
2 ECGs
1 surgery
1 chest port
1 picc line
All this represents a depth and breadth of time and experience that many people in this life will never have the opportunity to understand. #Survivors, I've learned, are cut from a different cloth, and it seems the disease itself rarely deals it's ugly hand to those that can't handle it.
May the hope, love, strength and courage carry this amazing couple towards complete remission.