AS YOU SOW SO SHALL YOU REAP.. I am gathering my harvest!

My daughter lost all muscular function due to a chronic illness that she now has to live with - dermatomyositis - two months ago ... an otherwise very active young woman with no past medical history not even the flu .. her life was turned upside down ... picture having to go from normal .. to being hospitalized... to being assisted to the bathroom by mom and others and not even be able to pull up your own bloomers ... that was my DD a couple months ago ... 

Aggressive medication and treatment and WILL AND DETERMINATION works wonders ... while not totally well she is in remission today ... I am elated ... and can't help but XP here the thread that I just shared on my OH Group Share-it! to which you are welcome to join ... the link is in my siggy line...

This is us today .... I AM GATHERING MY HARVEST AND I CAN FINALLY LAY MY WORRIED HEART TO REST...

AS YOU SOW SO SHALL YOU REAP
I believe this with all my heart and I have taught this to my kids since they were lil babies .... I love love love to pay it forward ... in any measure I can ... in whatever measure I can ... I believe in sowing ESPECIALLY during the toughest times ... because each and every time I sow in drought I have always gathered the best harvest ever.... like a blessing just like Do Unto Others....

Sometimes when it is soooooo hard to bring a smile forward because all hell is breaking loose around me and I look around and despair thinking lawd if I start to cry I will never stop and I cannot upset my family nor my friends ... when it is so hard to return a hug to the one who mocks and speaks ill about me and mine without even knowing me... to allow them into my space when they stab me in the back while offering up the kiss of Judas I still hug and bring forth a hard pressed smile because I know I must love them even when I don't like them ... to reach and give my last when I am running on E because someone needs it more than I .... I STILL SOW ...giving cheerfully ...  because it brings me peace, contentment, happiness and most of all fulfillment... ohhhhhh I gathered part of my harvest today....

What a wonderful harvest when we sow good seeds because as we sow so shall we reap ... I love sowing into communities, into individuals, into my family and into myself in any measure little or big ... you never know how much of a difference one can make with something as simple as a smile...

I AM SMILING TODAY ... because I sowed good seed into my daughter's life and it made my heart soooooooooooooooo happy to see her off her bed of affliction and while yet still weak paying it forward in a community event in an urban area not in our neighborhood nor City but nonetheless in an area where support for community clinics that risk funding being slashed in our economy today is much needed....

This community clinic has done much to promote wellness CELEBRATING 40 YEARS and I am so proud to see my DD participating in the fitness portion in an open door event that I am about to tell you in a picture tale.....

The event started with a wonderful speech by our congresswoman ....who offered recognition to both the founder and co-founder of the clinic celebrating so many years of being in existence providing medical care to the community at large assisting the uninsured and those not able to afford the cost of medical care in private facilities...


But what made me sooooooooooooooooooooo HAPPY ... SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY TEARS FILLED MY EYES .... IS SEEING MY BEAUTIFUL CARDIOKICK DIVA DD ... regaining her strength one day at a time ... OMG I wanted to cry when she struggled to put her own t-shirt over her head and to comb her hair which just a week ago she could not do without my help inflamed and weak as her muscles were ... but she was determined ... in remission now and with a WILL to take her life back ... SHE SAID YES! SHE WOULD BE THERE ... AND SO WE WERE ... SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY AND THIS WONDERFUL CLINIC TO CONTINUE PROVIDING FOR THE PEOPLE.... 

My Beautiful DD ... took her diagnosis and her treatment and worked it into her LIFE and she is on the UP..she has to live with this condition .. DETERMINED ... she picked up her pallet and walked!  .... she DID THE ZUMBA CLINIC ... OUTDOORS AT THE CLINIC COMMUNITY EVENT THIS MORNING ... WE ARE HOME NOW .. .AND ALL IS WELL ... SHE SAID SHE FELT BETTER AS SHE WORKED OUT...

She was up next after the Congresswoman's presentation ... and she went up there in the heat to set up.. worried because she has been bed-ridden except for her few PT sessions for a couple months...

and because she is such a sweet spirit people just started gravitating towards the Zumba Workshop and her.... while I stood to the side like a nervous old fool ready to rush to pick up my grown child should she have fallen...

young and old and any size shape sex or age they came...







and as I worried about her wellness as I took pictures ... I noticed something ... she looked stronger and stronger and was really enjoying what she was doing.... she was worried last night and even as we were going whether she would be able to make it ... and what do you think by seeing her here?




yup! I think she is back!!! I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY SHE IS IN REMISSION I KEPT SIGNALING HER TO TAKE IT EASY...

SHE DID ALL HER ROUTINES AND WHEN I HAD REQUESTED SHE ONLY DO 20 MINUTES ... SHE KEPT ON GOING AND GOING ... OMG ... I THINK I COULD FEEL GRAY HAIRS GROWING I WAS GETTING NERVOUS ... BUT SHE WAS A-OKAY...




OH I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY .... we went around and participated in other workshops from the nutrition to the cardiac health tables .. we got our t-shirts that were presented to us and we came home .... SOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY ... AND ME SOOOOOOOOOOOO TIRED ... WE WERE OUT ALL NIGHT WITH OUR FRIENDS ... GOT VERY LITTLE IF ANY SLEEP AND THEN OFF WITH MY BEAUTIFUL DIVA DD WHO IS ON THE MEND AND ON THE GO ...

I WISH HER WELLNESS AND BLESSING ALWAYS ... YOU ALL JUST DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THIS MOTHER CRIED .. YES I WILL TELL YOU ... ON THE STRETCHES WHEN I RAN WITH MY FRIENDS IN THE WEE HOURS OF THE AM ON THE WAY BACK WHERE THEY WOULD STOP AT THEIR HOMES AND I HAD TO RUN A WAYS YET ... I WOULD WAILLLLLLLLLLLLLL AND BEG FOR HEALING FOR MY DAUGHTER SHE IS YOUNG AND STRONG AND BEAUTIFUL WITH ALL HER LIFE BEFORE HER IF I COULD BE THE ONE THE CARRY HER YOKE INSTEAD I GLADLY WOULD AFTER ALL I HAVE ALREADY LIVED ...

LOVE AND WELLNESS CANDICE ... MOM LOVES YOU!!! Thank you OH friends for all your generous time and encouragement that kept us hoping and smiling and knowing that we would beat this ... with.a.little.help from our friends ... thanks for sowing words of love, wisdom and encouragement that fueled us on ....




THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALLOWING US TO SHARE ... WE TWO MOM AND DAUGHTER WERE FORMERLY MORBIDLY OBESE.... I HAD RNY 4.5 YEARS AGO AND SHE NEVER HAD ANY TYPE OF WLS..SHE MANAGES HER WEIGHT WITH DIET AND EXERCISE.... WE ARE IN THIS FOR LIFE....

Quite simply my friend this is a wonderful thing. There was never a moment when I doubted that Candie would get better and seeing these pictures proves that she is taking back her life. I am so proud and so happy for you both!

Thank you for believing enough for both of us my beautiful sista..and friend... I just read where she tells a friend she was barely at 50% but she had a smile in her heart and on her face and that when she got home she was able to skip up the stairs.. something she had not been able to do since the 'nonsense' started.. go figure...

Candie's 50% is like a 100% for most of the rest of us. She is just amazing!

 THANKS for sharing this GREAT info!  I am thrilled for both you and your daughter!

You are an AWESOME person & I'm so honored to be your friend!

(((HUGS)))

 Mil gracias mi bella amiga ((((((((((((hugs from both of us)))))))))))))))....

I too enjoyed reading your post and glad to hear your powerful story. I noticed the banner in the background that has Fair Haven Community on it. I'm from New Haven, CT born and raised there for 8 years. I miss it so much! Thanks once again for sharing I need to hear it....

I am glad you read my post and it brought you memories... maybe you'll get to visit again sometime.  I live a few cities over but I do work in New Haven but not at that clinic though.... I would take warm Florida over winter up here any day though LOL..

You and your daughter both look great.  She looks strong and beautiful just like her mother.  You both have come such a long way.  I am always inspired by your writing.

 Gracias Guara.. Thank you much for all you have done to help us and to facilitate that last biopsy.. we truly appreciate it.