In life, as changes are made, it becomes clear who will walk beside you, and who will just walk away. Two years ago, when we made the choice to send Avery to a private Catholic school, some friends walked away. A year ago, when we made the decision to send Owen to pre-k at the same school, some friends walked away. I may have lost friends when we moved our children to a different school, but I’ve met so many new people because of that change.
I’ve said so many times since starting my own business eleven months ago, if you want to see who truly supports you and will be there for you, start your own business. Most friends weren’t my best customers. In fact, most friends wouldn’t even help me get my business going by hosting a party to help me grow my network. Think of each friend you know — maybe 200….maybe 500….and then each one of those friends knows another 200 or 500 people. Those connections could really help a friend who’s just starting their own business. I have always tried to support small businesses, especially when they were run by my friends. I shouldn’t expect anything in return. Lesson learned. But, because of my business, I have had the opportunity to meet countless women across the United States. I was able to enjoy a vacation with my family traveling to a state we’d never been to as well as spend several days with other entrepreneurs learning, networking and filling my cup. I’ve had an excuse to regularly get out of my house and spend a few hours with some great groups of ladies. I’ve had an actual job and for once I didn’t hate it… I haven’t done that in almost ten years. I’ve formed relationships with vendors I’ve met at various events and I’ve met lots of wonderful customers. Most importantly, I’ve made some truly wonderful friends all over the US, some of whom I talk to several times a day. And to those friends, I couldn’t have made it through the past few months without you.
Since learning of Avery’s diagnosis, we have gone in search of other people who have been diagnosed with HoFH. People who could tell us, we hoped, that everything we were reading about HoFH wasn’t true. That our daughter would live past 20 or 30 years old. That we wouldn’t have to worry that she could have a heart attack at any time. That she wasn’t looking at a life of multiple medications with god only knows what side-effects. That she would have to go through a blood cleaning process for hours every two weeks. That we could all just go back to the way things were a month ago.
Well, we haven’t met anyone who has been able to turn back the clock or predict the future, but we have connected with some wonderful people. Moms and Dads of children living with HoFH. Several grown men and women (yeah!) living with HoFH. And, many other individuals living with and/or caring for someone with FH. These people have reached out to us in multiple ways and shared their stories. They’ve invited us to reach out to them any time for help, information, someone to talk to, or someone to cry with. Total. Amazing. Strangers.
I’m a true believer in God placing people in your life. Friends come and go. Someone who was with you through one season of life may not be there for the next. As one person moves on another person enters your life. Good and bad, people surprise me every day. It’s amazing after almost 40 years on this earth how much you still can learn from mankind.
Today’s post is a little different than the normal. Today I want to ask something of you. So for those of you who have been following my posts, you’ll remember that a few weeks ago I talked about my business. About trying to grow the number of people I was able to reach. Well, since tomorrow is #RareDiseaseDay2015, I thought this was the perfect time to ask you to help me reach others. Here’s how:
Avery's Fight 