This is the continuing story of Teddytoy and my family. Remember to Pay It Forward.. Some links may take you to adult material...if you aren't mature enough please move on.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
PRotege For Jeremy
This is a Tribute Song that Danny Gerena wrote for Jeremy ... Danny is Jeremy's friend. They grew up in the neighborhood together. It's Awesome! PRotege is Danny's group.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Diagnosis day
This is from Jeremy's CaringBridge page, written by his mother
Last year - I woke up this morning in a room in the PICU of Jackson Memorial hospital with Jeremy. He was scheduled for a test that morning. Marcelo, a resident, came in to have me sign the form and advised me that he needed to have a bone marrow biopsy. When they had taken blood a slide had been made. When they looked at the slide again they saw that the cells were misshapen. This is an indicator of Leukemia.
The doctor came into the room and explained that they would do the biopsy and they could have preliminary results in an hour. Most likely, they would not know anything for 24 hours though.One hour later the doctor returned. My brother was there with me when he said - It is definitely Leukemia - we will know what kind tomorrow.
I could not go back into Jeremy's room. I had to go find a quiet place for about 15 minutes. I went back to his room. Jeremy said, "Mom why are you crying, I am fine." Of course this made it worse. Then he said....."unless you know something that I don't."
I had to tell my son - You have Leukemia.
In a few minutes he asked if there was a treatment, I explained there was. Jeremy took my hand and said, " Then I've got this mom. I can do this." These were the words I held onto to the end.
This was the last real conversation I remember having with my son.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Why Do You Celebrate the Fourth?
Friday, June 24, 2011
One Year Later....
A few years ago an young teen was living with his parents in a South Florida town, going to high school like guys his age should. He was into music, like most teens are. He played sax and joined the school band. A lot of people liked him. He had a close circle of friends as most teens do. His life was going forward as is normal for a 16 year old. His parents loved him, his sisters did too, even though they loved to harass him. He was by all means, your normal average teen.
One warm Florida day in May 2010, his teacher noticed that he didn't look right. His color was off, kind of yellowish. That was the beginning of what was to become the worse two months for everyone that knew him. His parents and close friends were extremely concerned. They stuck by him, cared for him and loved him. His liver had failed, he was very lucky to get a transplant almost immediately. In July 2010 he got sick again ... went to the hospital again ... was diagnosed with leukemia and died in a few days. His family and friends stayed close to him.
Parents
WHY SHOULD A 16 YEAR OLD BOY HAVE TO WRITE THIS? What is going on in the parents heads that they can't show this extremely intelligent young man some real parental love?
Parents
I don't know how to feel about these two
I don't know where we fall apart
The two who put up with me through all in life
From now right back to the start
I went through ups and downs with them
They never accepted who I was
Maybe I'm the reason we fell apart
Maybe I'm the one main cause
When I was little, I blew out candles on a cake
They rushed over and made a fuss, I didn't really understand
But they were trying to protect me
Blowing out the candles with my hand
When I fell around the corner
I split open my head
We went the hospital to stitch me up
We skipped dinner, you and i didn't get fed
Then when I was 10 I broke my arm, walked in without a word
You sat me down, got a cushion, told me i'll soon be on the mend
We went to hospital, went through red lights
At 60 round every bend
Yous have certainly looked after me the last few years
Through all the good and bad
I don't know where we fell apart
I miss you, mum and dad
All these things you've done
Every present I've been bought
I love you both more than anyone
And you loved me, I thought
When yous asked who Liam was
And I replied to you my boyfriend
You were both let down inside
I don't think you'll ever mend
But its not my fault because of the way I am
If I could i'd change it all
All I want is for a happy family
Not one who fight at every call
We were once that family
Before that fateful day
The day both my parents stopped caring
The day they found out I was gay
Read more at Davie Magill ... this is his blog.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Flag Day 2011
As we observe Flag Day today, I thought we should take a look back at why the U.S. was formed and why we are here.
For centuries the European countries were being terrorized by religious zealots that were forcing their beliefs on the world. If you didn't believe exactly as they did, you were tortured or killed. The Catholic Church was leading some of the worse terrorism of the times. The Church of England .. a spin off of the Catholics .. was also involved as were many of the splinter 'religions' of the day. The people eventually had had enough and decided to brave the seas to go to the 'Promised Land' of the new world.
They had hoped that by starting a new country with a new form of government, “Of the People, By the People, and For the People” with the idea of freedoms that they didn't have back in the 'old country.' Freedom of tyranny, freedom of religion and from religious persecution, freedom to speak out, and many others that they had only dreamed of. They fought bravely to defend those freedoms, a fight that continues to this day. Millions have died to preserve the freedoms that they had dreamed of.
So, today, over 200 years later, where do we stand? Well, those freedoms exist for some but not all. The chruches are back in power. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The things our fore fathers fought against are now back … maybe not to the extent of those times but, none the less, they are here again.
They say there is goverernment tyrany when in actuality tyrany means abuse of powers. Cutting programs that help people while giving breaks to wealthy is a real abuse of powers.
Religious freedom means not only freedom to practice a religion but freedom to not practice one. So called religious people are trying to force their beliefs at any cost. The dominate religious sect, Christianity, used to belive in the teachings of Christ. Today many of it's followers have no idea of the actual teachings they profess to believe in. Instead of love and compassion, they teach fear and hate.
The freedom of speech is limited to those who support certain beliefs. During the last presidency, if you spoke out against the 'party' you could be arrested. That same 'party' is controled by two groups, the extremely rich and the extremely religious. They are even trying to re-write history to suit their own needs.
We observe Flag Day... a symbol of what this country is supposed to be...what our fore-fathers wanted it to be. We haven't made it yet. In fact we have a long way to go. Someday, maybe, all will have equal freedoms and be able to live equally with the same rights, and then Flag Day will be something to celebrate.