January 9, 2011: Round the family it goes!

Heaveno!



Well, a good bug is too good a thing to hoard.  One should share it with all they care about!  That's what we're doing right now in the Ringgold household.  I'm sure plenty of you do the same thing.  No biggie.  Just rotating bouts of crumminess.  First, Ali's gut, then my gut, now momma's gut.  Luckily, Ali and I are on the mend.  I did sleep roughly from Friday afternoon to this morning with very, VERY little action otherwise.  I shaved and took a shower yesterday evening thinking that if I looked and smelled better, I'd feel better!  HA!



What zany things have you done to con yourself into getting better?  Let's see who has the best one...

I finally finished a project that is near and dear to my heart this evening.  With my newfound vigor, I dragged the fam out to Joann's to get some fabric, came home, and finally put Bella's poster and foot prints in a proper frame on her wall.  I just miss her so terribly.  This big picture helps twofold.  One, I get to see that amazing picture really big, but two, it's like she's looking right into me saying, "Now daddy, you're not getting too overextended to make good on my birthday promise, are you?"



Boy, that rattles my ADHD cage right back into shape!

I don't know if you saw this on facebook today, but watch this video:

Folks, THIS is why I cannot rest until I have given the docs in MN every dollar they need to make their procedure safe.  Now, I don't give a you-know-what if you don't like it when I preach about raising money.  You watch this video.  Now you try and imagine the sounds they muted.  Now you try to imagine the PAST 3 YEARS going this way.

I remember Bella's first bath.  I remember her kicking a hole in her left leg that caused a wound that took 6 weeks to heal and was the equivalent of an 18'' blister on me.  I remember that moment.  One of many.  I remember the day I was trying to change her diaper, and while holding her foot by the bandages, I accidentally pulled the boot off, and in doing so split the skin on her foot from toe to ankle.  I remember having to get Angelique to hold her while I ran and got our neighbor who is a nurse to help us redress the wound, all while Ali just watched.

Bella may be gone, but those memories will haunt me forever.  And she had it good!  I look at this poor girl Daisy.  I think of the sounds of Payton's screams as his mom would put him in the bath on the TV special.  Folks, the stories are e-n-d-l-e-s-s.  I cannot wake up on January 1, 2012 as if life just goes on.  NOT ONE MORE YEAR.  NO.  THIS is the year we crack the code.  THIS is the year Dr. Wagner and Dr. Tolar have the funds they need to isolate the stem cell that IS ALREADY WORKING... already healing... already creating miracles.

THIS IS THE YEAR.

In line with with tonight's sermon ;) I would like to share with you an amazing letter that came in the mail to Ang and me yesterday.  My big sister Mary, as you all know, lives in North Carolina with her amazing family.  I remember telling Mary when I moved cross country in 1995 that when I grew up, I wanted to raise my family like she and Tom did.  I have so much respect for them as parents.

Anyway, yesterday, one of Mary's best friends from college wrote us.  She explained that she began following our blog the day Bella died.  She went on to tell me that she considers me the male version of my big sister Mary.  What she didn't know in sharing that was what I just told you about 1995.  It was the nicest compliment anyone could EVER give me, because my sister LIVES for her family and I LIVE for mine.  Not that she or I are in any way unique from anyone else, it's just what means the most to us.  Family first.

Mary's friend Donna went on to say that in lieu of Christmas gifts, she asked everyone in her family to write a check to PUCK.  Inside the letter were 3 checks totaling $1,100.00.

Here's what I am learning:

EB doesn't break for the holidays, but neither does Generosity,
Nor Charity,
Nor Love,
Nor Abundance.

By October 11, 2020, there are various treatment options for children with EB, and nobody ever has to die from this disease again.

By May 21, 2011, Dr. Wagner and Dr. Tolar have 3 million dollars to fund all the research required to isolate the working stem cell, and thereby make stem cell transplant for EB kids SAFE as well as effective.

This is what you can count on.

God night.