Hello April

Another month has flown by. I wish I could say and with it brings warm weather, but then I'd be lying. 

Trying to beat the cabin fever

 One thing I can say, that everyone has said at one time or another, is that time flies by way too quickly.You wait 40 long weeks for the baby to come, and those weeks seem to trudge along. Then the baby comes and things happen in warp speed. Am I right? You blink and you might miss something. A baby's first laugh, a toddler's first steps, a child's first day of school, etc..

The Munchkins decorating Easter eggs

 

One important thing I've realized in the last few years is that as cliche as it is, you have to make the most of everyday. Tomorrow is never promised, so live for today.Quite often I have to remind myself of that.With that in mind, I have to share a story. I recently met a woman who during just a short encounter, really touched my heart. She was fairly young, and battling cancer. She'd beaten it twice, but this time it is back and mets to her bones, mainly her spine. Not a good prognosis, but she had the best outlook. She told me when she starts feeling bad for herself she thinks about Helen Keller, and how it could be so much worse. I somehow brought up Violet and shared the story of her illness, (thinking how lucky I am that she has CF and how it didn't come close to being as terrifying as terminal cancer,)and was shocked when the lady asked to see a picture of her. With tears in her eyes said she can't imagine the heartache of a sick child, and she'd pray for her, and our family. Gulp. How selfless of her. How selfish am I, are we all, when we complain about the little things? The things that in the big scheme of everything don't mean jack! I'm not saying none of our problems are dire, and I don't think people should restrict their ranting.(when your having a bad day sometimes it's all you can do) I have  come to the realization that the more time you waste complaining the more time you lose out on doing things you can enjoy.

 

 

 

As April begins, and we eagerly await for Spring to really start, it also signifies the end for other things. 5 more weeks of school for me. I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, meaning more time home with the girls,less opportunity for Ava to ask if I have to leave again, more time to exercise and stop eating out of vending machines,and most excitingly the next time I pull 12 hour shifts in the hospital I will be getting paid to do so, not paying to do them.

 

 

 2 more weeks until our first big CF event, all thanks to my mom and her organizational skills. They say it takes a village to raise a child, well I say Bonnie does the work of a village with a little help from her good friends to pull things off perfectly.

 

Less then 5 weeks until our Great Strides walk for CF. This will be our second year participating. Last year we had over 100 members, and were able to raise over $34,000. We are so proud of our success, especially for being an inaugural team. This year we are off to a good start with 76 members, and over $10,000 raised. I am hoping to blow past our amount raised last year, but the time is winding down. I sometimes wonder if we did so well last year because of the shock of Violet's diagnosis? Now that the shock value is gone, it's a lot harder to motivate other people without being pushy. I hate asking people for money, even though it's not going to me, or even to my kid directly, it still feels awkward. Yet I continue to do so because I know it will have a positive impact not only on Violet but many other families. People are surprising. Like I've said before sometimes strangers are the kindest souls, and sometimes the people we imagined might take an active role sit on the sidelines. It always astonishes me when friends of family or my friends' friend or family are generous to us. They have no obligation to us, yet they choose to kind because they are just that, genuinely kind people. No matter how you know our family, or have come to find out about Violet and her cause, we'd like to say Thank You.

 

 

Thank you for thinking about our baby.

Thank you for making that donation, big or small.

Thank you for offering your help or acquiring that auction item.

Thank you for joining our team and your fundraising efforts.

 Most of all Thank you for your kind thoughts and inquiring about Violet's health.

 

 

Thank You from our family to yours!