Has it really only been a week?

I can't believe it has only been a week since last Sunday.  The day we had to take another look at our reality and readjust our perspective about Angie's disease.  To remember the insidious nature of Sturge-Weber Syndrome and its ability to steal what is most precious.  To resume our watch over our girl with new intensity.

But life continues on.  This week, we attended basketball games (8 of them!), kept our regular work schedules, took Angie for testing, scheduled more appointments, administered medication, battled the Oregon Health Plan, and attended service-planning meetings for two children which spanned over 4 hours.  We facilitated homework and room-cleaning, made meals, and washed the laundry.

Above all, we are a family like any other.  Every family has challenges and struggles.  Parenting is one of the hardest jobs on Earth-followed closely by teaching.  At the end of the day, we have all done the best we can with what we have before us.  It is exhausting, though, isn't it?  I am grateful for this blog so I can unload my concerns and even if no one has read it, my burden is lighter for having put my thoughts into words.  If you are reading, though, I hope you don't sense that our problems and concerns are more daunting or more worthy of concern than your own.  I don't believe that for a minute.  You are all important to me and I care about your concerns.

Thank you for continuing to read and to support us on this journey.  It means so much to me when I run into someone in the community and they comment on what they have read here or when a friend sends a sweet Facebook message that brings me to tears.  I am grateful to live in such a caring community, and to have the online support of my friends in the distance.  We are in this together, each writing our own story as we go.