Mitochondrial Awareness Week (part 3 and final)

What more is there to say?

After mito mom Lauri and I shared our first cup of coffee, I walked away strengthened in a way I didn't know I needed. At the time, our table talk was more beneficial than any Beth Moore Bible Study (which I highly recommend!) While I valued sharing my life with someone who knew the mito lingo and was learning to live with the day to day reality of our disease, bottom line, I needed to know I wasn't alone in the journey.

What struck me the most when I met Tina was the peace she emanates in the midst of it all. Having traveled and lived large, I struggle to accept limits. But Tina and her husband see their role as parents to three diagnosed kids as a ministry. A trip to Disney? Probably not. Life as most know it? Not on the radar.

But Tina rolls with it all. And I think of her often.

I met a women in the nursery last night who has a child with a totally different genetic disease, with challenges much bigger than my own. After hearing stories about families in their disease community, I marveled at their "underworld". And it reminded me again of how many exist.

Cancer. Alzheimers. Lou Gerigs. Type 2 Diabetes. Spina Bifida.

And that's the few biggies that come to mind because I know people closely affected.

So while this is Mitochondrial Disease awareness week, perhaps the greater challenge is simply: be aware of those around you fighting through whatever challenge they face. Look it up. Google it. Learn something about it so you know how to discuss it with even just a basic level of knowledge. Believe me, your friend will be grateful.

Take a meal. Share coffee. Listen. Celebrate life. Lots of people live with low energy, severe limitations, and daily reminders that good health really is a fragile thing.

In closing, take a minute and absorb one more video. My music's in the background, the chorus sung at the end. Meet families from my underworld. Some are still journeying and some have fought the good fight. But together, a difference is made.



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