gradys all stars

All I can say is WOW! The response from the WTAE story has been amazing. I knew Pittsburgh was a great city with caring people but I had no idea that my two boys would have such an impact. My email has been going crazy and the Trust is receiving donations every hour. The emails that stand out the most are the ones that talk about my family giving other people the motivation to accept what they cannot change and enjoy life. There was a very inspirational moment in my journey that I usually don't share but thought I would now.

On February 1, 2008 one day after my birthday I noticed that Drew was doing this strange head bop thing. Within 3 days I realized these were seizures and he was having hundreds of them. We were inpatient in the EEG monitoring unit for 4 days and then on the general floors until we adjusted his medications. At that point I decided that I needed to take some time off of work to concentrate on Drew and getting him back on track. There was one day shortly into my six weeks off that I thought I was losing my mind and it was only 8 AM! Drew would get very cranky with medication changes and this day was going to be a BAD one. So I do what I do best and packed him up for some retail therapy at South Hills Village Mall. We walked around a bit before the stores opened and our first stop was the "Mickey Store" aka The Disney Store. Drew was acting up a bit but was doing better. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a very well dressed mommy with perfect hair and that is when I realized I had not even brushed my hair and I was still in the same clothes I wore the day before. I quickly thought to myself well if Drew was typical I would care. I was too busy making him better to care. Then the mommy turned and in her stroller was the most beautiful blond haired girl who was hooked up to an oxygen tank. At that very moment I wanted to DIE. Really I did. But the lesson I learned was that things never appear as they are at first glance. I did not speak to that mother or daughter but they touched me. I bought Drew a stuffed Mickey, went home took a shower and vowed never to feel sorry for myself again.