Life...live it if u got it.

So, it's been a while since I've blogged...Been meaning to, but so much seems to be either taking my time or sapping my energy to write.

I have a couple of stories to relay that I feel are important to you my friends. Both of them relate to a topic that is near and dear to my heart, which is the importance of living life while you can. As we live with this disease and see how it takes your strength, it is easy to wish that we would have done more in the early days of it, but we did what we could, and we did much by almost anyone's standards. Still, it never seems like enough in times like these.

A good friend of mine called me up the other day. "Sedg, let's grab a beer, i've got a story for ya." OK, so if you know me, you know i'm pretty much ALWAYS up for that. My Mom likes brown paper packages tied up with string. Stories and beer are two of MY favorite things.

...When the dog bites...when the bee stings.....when you're feelin' bad...just give me a Beer and and a story to hear and then I don't feeeeeeeeeeel so sad. (Don't worry, if you are not a fan of the Sound of Music, then you will think i'm insane and that is OK.)

So, my friend did well last year and decided to buy himself a 2009 BMW M6. I have driven this car and it is an absolute rocket. I screeched the wheels in gears 1,2 and 3 and then stopped on a dime to turn in about 1/4 mile later. Feeling a bit springy on a warm early May day, he decided to take a drive up to the mountains to look at some investment property one evening. Cruising along at just a tad above the limit in the dark, with no time to react, he saw a good sized white tail deer jump in front of his car and proceed to essentially "explode" its head on his car's grille.

The timing was astonishing. The deer was jumping down and had just landed, so it's head was low and it was weight forward on it's front legs. A BMW M6 is an extremely low vehicle. In amost ANY position this deer would have been high enough to be taken out from under it's legs and would have wound up through the windsheild and on my buddy's lap at 85 mph. This would surely have been disastrous, if not fatal to him. As fate, God or Luck would have it, this deer left it's blood and hair on his grille and went predominantly under his car. His airbag did not deploy (which would probably have been a disaster in this situation) and he barely felt the impact.

Be it a deer, a bus, a diagnosis or a bullet, we don't know when our number is up. You can "have it all" one minute and be a grease spot the next. Don't take your life for granted.

Story number two that touched my heart this week. I had a chance to catch up with a friend of mine who is successful in the food service industry. To this end, he has had to travel a lot over the last few years building client bases and attending tradeshows for his employers. Giving this time to his career to support his family, which many of us do or have done in our lives. Well, one day his daughter, who would probably have been about 4 or so at the time, if my chronology is correct, said to him "Daddy, can you come home this week for a visit?" Well, of course that is a tough one to swallow or even argue. Kids are honest in what they say, especially at that age, and this was her perception and therefore her reality. Daddy did not live at home. This bold friend of mine put in his notice a few weeks later and has not looked back. He's still busy and successful in his field, even moreso than before, still works his ass off in terms of hours, but now he spends most of his nights at home and can kiss his kids goodnight a lot more than he used to. He's coaching two softball teams and I imagine will coach a third when the time comes. How will he do it and practically run a good sized company too? Who knows, but I bet he will. That is powerful.

Tonight, I didn't tuck my kids in because I could not let go of H. She was so sad... But they came in and said goodnight and asked if I would tuck them in. H said "Mommy needs Daddy tonight." and so they said "good night, I love you" and left without any spite at all. I hope they saw something that they will remember and require of whomever they find in their lives down the road.

I went to check on them after H fell asleep and found my baby in with my big girl, and they looked so cute. No matter how much they bicker and the 4 year span between them seems to keep them at odds, they knew they could count on and comfort each other when they needed it and that so much rocks, I can barely take it.

Also, neighbors are throwing a massive Luau party for us this weekend on our cul-de-sac and all proceeds will go to support ALS-TDI and their efforts to find a cure before it is too late. If you can make it, we'd love to see ya! We are hoping to raise the number on the fundraising goal on the "hope for Heidi" page.
https://hopeforheidi.alscommunity.org

If you can make it, just show up at the cul-de-sac, or let me now and I can get you an e-vite. Rumor has it i'll be pounding my conga drums w/ my buddies from 5 to 6 before the real music starts (i.e. the DJ)

Peace.
B.