Heavy Heart

As I write this post today, it is with a heavy heart.  We have, yet again, lost a member of our family.  My Mom's sister, Aunt Carol, passed away yesterday morning of ALS, also known as, Lou Gehrig's Disease.  Aunt Carol was only diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago and in the last month, she declined rapidly.  There are so many aspects of this disease, I couldn't begin to explain them all.  You can click here to get more information.  

What you need to know, is this woman was so strong and she fought hard before this disease took her from us.  She never complained, she was always grateful, she always had a smile on her face, and was always giving of herself.  I, honestly, can't say that I would be this strong. 

I am so thankful to have had her my life and that she was able to meet my son.  The picture above was in May of 2010.  Mason was 11 months old and Aunt Carol had already been diagnosed with this terrible disease.  What a great significance this picture is to me! Aunt Carol was at the end of her life and Mason was just beginning. 

We all knew her time was short and there was nothing we could do, but she is still making a difference.  She decided early on in her race against time to donate herself to research.  We can only hope they will learn something from her and that she will make a difference.  I know she would be very proud to know she helped someone.