The Real Me

Well, I know there has been special interest in our family. There has also been well meaning yet bad advice given to me.
My dad is dying, and it breaks my heart. I know where he is going, and that I will be with him again. That being said, the pain of losing him is real. If you want to help, send an encouraging message, pray for him and my mom.
My son is still suffering from ongoing, constant, daily migraines. He has sleepless nights, and days when he has to wear sunglasses in a dark house. He sees specialist after specialist, and needs to try different medical changes constantly.
My husband has an inflammatory illness that leaves him weakened and in constant pain. We are still waiting for specialists to nail down what is wrong with him exactly. People know that he is ill, and yet they still don't understand.
I have illnesses as well. Mine are psychological, but every bit as real. Due to issues that I have had to deal with, it has caused me to emotionally shut down. I have been dealing with anxiety, OCD, severe depression, and agoraphobia. I can't snap out of it, just cheer up, serve others, and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It doesn't work that way!!! Before you give me advice on "natural" remedies, tell me that there is something wrong with the way I live my life, or that I don't have a close relationship with Heavenly Father, because I DO! Educate yourselves. I am currently in treatment, that's what you all need to know.
Things may be difficult now, but we all have strong testimonies, have daily scripture study, Family Home Evening, and family prayers. We are a strong, united family.
I also have a sweet son that is in college, has a steady job, is an RM and is a joy. He helps in more ways than he could even imagine.

Insanity

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result, than I think most of us are in trouble. I find it funny that people do this constantly, but always seem surprised when things don't change in their lives.

There is another group of people that amaze me. It's the mindset that anything you put on Myspace, Facebook, blog, or write about has to be butterflies and sunshine. To that, I say from the rooftops, "GET REAL! GET A LIFE! REAL LIFE ISN'T LIKE THAT!" Did you hear me? Sometimes life bites, and it would be completely unrealistic to think that you can never talk about it. Yes, much of life is good, but if you can't take the fact that sometimes things suck (Gasp! Did I just say the "s" word? Why, yes, I said suck! It's not a swear, get over it people!) then you so don't live in the real world. If you happen to be going through a crappy (Gasp Again!) time then for crying out loud, let other people know. Maybe there is something that they can do to help, or maybe you can help someone else with your example.

Here is a list of words that for some reason people find offensive for no good reason. Crap, Crappy, Craptastic, Suck, Sucky, Sucked, Shut up, Bites, Flip,

Example: If you behave in a crappy manner to me, and I think it sucks, I will tell you to flippin' bite me and to shut the crap up. There is nothing wrong with that sentence. I did not swear. It was perfectly acceptable.

I realize that there are people out there that may think that my hubby and I are bad parents to our almost 18 year old son. Get ready for a collective Gasp! We watch PG-13 movies with our son, we listen to heavy metal with our son, actually we introduced him to fine bands like Metallica, Breaking Benjamin, Disturbed, and Evanescence and we have even introduced him to punk metal. I can almost hear the gasping from people at church. We don't have any feelings of regret as to how we have parented our child. He is an amazing kid with a stronger testimony and relationship with Heavenly Father than a whole lot of adults in the Church, and guess what so do my husband and I. In fact we have weekly Family Home Evening, DAILY Scripture Study, and Family Prayer and Personal Prayer. We are as close of a family as I have ever seen. Don't be so quick to judge us. We are doing very well.