2014 - Page 12 of 16 - Forever In Mom Genes

International Epilepsy Awareness Day

Mar 21 2014

March 26 is International Epilepsy Awareness Day and Gary Collins, the Executive Director of Epilepsy Canada, will dye his hair purple on that day to raise money for epilepsy research. Our daughter Avery is among the over 300,000 Canadians, including Mr. Collins, who have been diagnosed with epilepsy. Another 15,000 will be diagnosed this year. The seizure inducing condition is a neurological issue affecting the brain and is much more common than people realize. Epilepsy affects one in every 100 people worldwide. Thankfully, medication keeps Avery’s once life-threatening seizures under control. Unfortunately 30% of people live with seizures which are resistant to drug therapies. During March, Epilepsy Awareness month, people are being encouraged to donate to Epilepsy Canada’s research grants program. Since 1966, Epilepsy Canada has annually funded important epilepsy research projects at major Canadian hospitals and universities. Money raised by the Purple Hair 4 Epilepsy and other initiatives will contribute to keeping the funding program alive. Anyone who wishes to sponsor Gary or others who have pledged to colour their hair purple can do so online at www.purplehair4epilepsy.com.

Mar 19 2014

Shortly before 6 AM on a Sunday morning our daughter came into our room sobbing. “I had a bad dream,” she cried. As she lay with us, the phone rang and we learned that my husband’s mum had passed away at 5:55 AM. Avery and her Grandie were so deeply connected in life, it makes sense to me that they were connected at the end. When a loved one dies it’s a blessing for them if it’s quick—to go without suffering. But for those left behind, it’s heart wrenching. So how do people get through it? There’s no right or wrong way. Actually, that’s not exactly true. When you’re trying to comfort your grieving husband, there things you should definitely not do. For example, the day my husband’s mum died we sat on the couch exhausted, unable to do anything but stare. Avery wanted to play but we just couldn’t. Then I remembered I’d picked up some movies from the library earlier in the week so I popped one in the DVD player to keep her occupied. When I noticed my mistake, it was too late. The movie I had chosen was Up! If you know the sentimental story,[…]

Mar 19 2014

Losing someone you love leaves a hole in your heart. When the loss is sudden and unexpected it seems more cruel and difficult to accept. You go through the motions and make the necessary arrangements, comforting those around you and accepting comfort when you can. You hold your family close when they cry and when you think nobody will hear, you cry too. My husband lost his mother, my father-in-law lost his wife, my children lost their grandmother, I lost a friend. It’s hard to accept that she’s really gone. Our son was extremely close to his Grandie. He’s now struggling with the concept of mortality—hers, his and ours. Avery, our seven year old special girl, doesn’t understand. Not really. She knows Grandie has gone somewhere, but explaining death is damn difficult. She thinks her grandmother has gone to the dentist. We’re not sure where she got this idea. The other night I heard her ask, “Daddy, why you sad? You want your mum? It okay daddy, Grandie is at the dentist.” “You mean heaven?” he asked her. “Yes, the dentist at heaven,” she answered. She was clearly confused about the concept of heaven. Truthfully, even as an adult, I[…]

She’s Da (photo) Bomb…

Mar 13 2014

It took a few years before my daughter was invited to a birthday party, but once she attended her first, she couldn’t get enough. The balloons, the colourfully wrapped gifts, the kids happily playing and laughing, and of course the birthday cake. Avery is hopelessly smitten with parties. And for some reason she thinks every celebration is all about her. I have no idea who she gets that from. Ahem…clearly the party animal doesn’t fall from from the tree. *I’ve never fallen from an actual tree, but I did get stuck in one after climbing too high on a dare. I had to be rescued. In retrospect I wish I hadn’t been wearing a skirt. Last weekend we helped our friends M and J celebrate their sixth birthday. We partied. Hard. Some of us even partook in a little photo bomb action… Of course this wasn’t the first birthday photo bombing incident. There was this one too. *Note the teeny finger print in the icing…”somebody” just couldn’t resist fondling the fondant. Aw, that’s my girl. 🙂

Mar 07 2014

This is Avery. Avery is tired of winter and is planning a trip to Mexico (she studied Mexico at school last week). So she packed her bags and her “tar” (guitar, for non-hipsters) and here she sits. Clearly the waiting is just too much…. Sorry senorita, Mexico doesn’t seem to be in your near future. The good news is, we’re having nachos tonight.

Archive - 2014

International Epilepsy Awareness Day

Need Comfort? I’m Probably Not Your Best Bet

Goodbye

She’s Da (photo) Bomb…

A Girl, A Guitar and a Dream To Fly To Pretend Mexico