Extree Extree Read Allaboutit!

After MUCH anticipation (I know you've been sitting on the edge of your seat) I am SO very happy to announce that I will be participating in the  

MS Challenge Walk

this fall!  After taking a break from fundraising and participating in the walk with the Greater Delaware Valley chapter, my team and I have decided that a return is long over due!

AND, with the growing and overwhelming support that we have received over the years, we are even MORE excited to announce that our TEAM has grown and we will be bigger than ever!

If you don't know too much about the walk, our experience, our my family's story and involvement with the MS society, check out some of these links:

The Donnatellos facebook page
Pictures from our 2nd challenge walk!
Our Story  about being a family living with MS

sister, me, MOM (the DONNA in Donnatello), my bestfrand

Once we have more plans, details, and EVENTS (yes, EVENTS) I will let you in on it all. No. Doubt.

Also, the BIGGEST of thanks to my friends and family who participated in the wear orange MS Awareness project.  My mom got a KICK out of it, maybe even a tear or two, and is beyond grateful for all of your support (so am I!) 
We'll have even more about that at a later date.

Welp, have a very happy Monday.  Hopefully you have a few less inches to scrape off your car than I do!

xx.  Mayonnaise

pssssssstt. Interested in learning how YOU can be a part of Team Donnatello, help fundraise, and raise awareness?  hang in there kids! more information is coming your away pronto

Announcements Upon Us!

Happy Humpday Kiddos! (not that hump.. geeze getchyer mind out the gutter)

Hope all is well in your world, and you woke up to a fabulous (although cold) first day of spring!

There are SO many things going on in this world of mine, and soon I'll let ya in on some of it!  Really exciting stuff, I promise.

In other news, here is a recap of my MS Awareness Week decked out in orange.  BOOYAH!

alright, so it wasn't ALL orange.. but it counts!

had an AWESOME conversation about the MS Challenge Walk with 3 different people!

got to channel my inner hippie advocate/activist (not too much acting necessary)

starbucks refuel and another Challenge Walk shirt!

day 5! rock OUT with the ORANGE!

It was a great week full of questions, conversations, and amazing love.
Thank YOU for making Our Story. the most viewed post I've written so far.  It speaks volumes of the kind of support that I have, my family has, and the support that we can ALL give each other. 

All that being said, I'm going to be counting on your support in the upcoming months!  BBBBUUUUHHHT I'll be explaining that later in the week! (sorry, hate when people do that to me, but I just have to) (you'll understand one day when you're older)

In the meantime, enjoy your shwendsday. 

xx.  Mayonnaise

Our Story.

This week is National MS Awareness Week!  Get out there, wear some orange (before we all wear..and maybe drink.. some green this weekend), educate a friend, and SPREAD THE WORD.

Again, a cause very near & dear to my heart, and therefore,

very worth writing about.  

My mom & I are beyond lucky to have the bond & the relationship that we have.  When I tell you that she is my best friend, I'm not kidding.  We talk multiple times a day, text multiple times a day, and we (maybe even freakishly) look a lot a like.

baby Mayo & mama bear

When I was in 4th grade, my mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
What does this mean to a 4th grader?  Not a whole lot, aside from, you know it's bad & you're really scared.. because your mom AND your dad are both in the same room, crying, telling you your life is about to change.

Quick snap shot of my mom while I was in elementary school:
PTA mom.  Jenkins Award Winner.  Girl Scout Leader.  Coach.  Religion Teacher.  Best Friend.  Home Work Helper.  Taxi Driver.  Talent Show Organizer.  Fundraiser.  Vacation Bible School Teacher.  Peanut Butter & Jelly Ministry Coordinator.  Basketball Player. 

The woman, DID. IT. ALL.

So.. what did the next few weeks, months, years have in store for my mom? For me? For my family?
This diagnosis, like just about all others, affects an entire family.

"Could I see Patty, please?" said an unfamiliar voice to my 4th grade teacher.
I stood from my chair, and followed the man that I was pretty sure I had never seen before, to an office, that I had never been in before.

"Hi Patty, my name is Mr. Ortiz.  I was sent to talk to you."
even my 4th grade mind knew.. "great, a shrink."
And that was the first time I ever really spoke to anyone about how I felt about my mom's diagnosis.

Beyond the first few weeks, life continued as "normal."  We knew that my mom had some vision problems, that were thankfully clearing up, but the meaning of Multiple Sclerosis was still very grey for me.

The next few years held multiple medications, "clinical trials," and ups & downs for my mom, and my family. 

The summer before I was in 7th grade, my family moved.  Once we got settled, my mom felt she was healthy enough to work.  She got a job at my middle school, while I was in middle school.  It was interesting, to say the least.  But, I really did love having my mom at school.  I thought she was pretty cool, and my 7th grade self was proud of her for being able to work.

Sooner than later, the healthy days were fewer & far between, and the "symptom" days became part of our day-to-day norm.  My mom left her job at the middle school.

Once I was in high school, it seemed we had things managed a bit better.  The healthy days were outnumbering the bed-ridden days, and things were looking up.  My mom went back to work; this time, at my uncle's office.

It was really great for my mom to have a job, let alone one that was fairly close, and one where the administration was very understanding of what she was living with.

My phone rang one cold, winter day.

"Pat, I need you to come get me."

My mom was on the other side of the phone.  She drove herself to work.  She had a rough few days, figured it would wear off, and got herself together to go to work.  Because that's what she did (and still does).

After that day, the days my mom drove on her own, were few & far between.  The days that she walked without some kind of assistive device (cane, walker, scooter) were few & far between.

Fast forward to my senior year of high school/freshman year of college.

My mom spent days, weeks on & off in the hospital.  I drove to school, work, practice, then the hospital.

I left for college.  My mom was STILL sick.  I had the most guilt, the most sorrow, the most depression, I have ever felt in my entire life. 

My high school days were full of activities, studying, and care-giving.  For my mom, for my sisters, for my family.  Not even necessarily because I HAD to, but because I wanted to.  I made it my responsibility to bear any burden that could lighten those of my parents.

[perspective: My mom and dad sat in the tiny tented area at my graduation, normally reserved for the elderly.  They had to leave the ceremony after we threw our caps because my mom couldn't endure the heat any longer. We also brought a scooter to my college orientation.  So if you saw some lady buzzing around on an old school hover-round, that was my mom. Yes, she was buzzing.] 

When I got to college and realized I left those responsibilities with my sisters, I was crushed.  I was stressed almost over minute of every day over what I had left at home for them to deal with.  I couldn't handle it.  I began having serious migraines, to the point I had to go to the hospital.  I saw a therapist once a week throughout the majority of my freshman year, trying to figure out how to deal with the stress and the guilt. 

after my SECOND MS challenge walk with my sister, my mom & my best friend

Eventually, it was all managed, and it seemed as though it was under control around the same time my mother's health was managed.

For the last 3 years (roughly) my mother has been on an absolute miracle drug, and the HEALTHY days have IMMENSELY outweighed the less healthy.

I am thankful for the support my mom has had.  I am thankful for the support that I have had, that my family has had.  I am thankful for the medicine, for the doctors, for the nurses.  Although not all of these people are always perfect, they are those who have gotten us to where we are today.  My friends, our friends, have been an amazing resource.  Since my mom's diagnosis not every day has been easy, but we have enjoyed some part of every day.

How does she do it?  I ask myself this all of the time.  I may never know.  I can tell you, she tries to make sure that she smiles every day.  It's not always number one on her priority list, but she somehow forces one out.

My mom is my hero.

my permanent awareness ribbon bracelet

I could add 91450923745 more details, tell 28351560 stories, and one day, I will.
If you made it to the end of this, thank you for taking the time to read it.  It is just a skeleton of our story, but it is our story.

I love you mom.

xx. Mayonnaise

National Multiple Sclerosis Society 

A Vocabulary Lesson.

welp, after yet another long "vacation" from this blog.. I have returned.  I promise, I will get better at making this a regular habit again.. once the rest of my schedule follows suit.

There have been so many days that I get in the car to come home and think "writing would be great right now." Then, I actually GET home and I think "that idea was crazier than letting Animal from the muppets in a china shop".

So, here is a wrap-up of what has happened since we last spoke.

Sunshine moved in.  Sunshine started training for new job.  Sunshine's mom had a surprise birthday party.  I went to work.  My schedule changed.  I went to work.  My schedule changed.  I went to work.  My schedule changed.  We bought a couch.  We bought professional clothes.  Sunshine started teaching.  Mom came to visit.  I received my tax information (I owe money. ew.) Visited my family. I went to work.  My schedule changed.   (*INHALE*)

Nothing terribly exciting.  And as much as my schedule does change, I'm so used to it, that it's almost like it's staying the same (if that makes sense... it probably doesn't)

BUT over the last few weeks, while my schedule does more flips than Gabby Douglas, I have met some amazing people, thought some amazing thoughts, and have had some FABULOUS conversations.

So, what better day to get back at it, than Spread the Word to End the Word Day. 

Don't know about it? Peep their facebook page

This is a cause that is near & dear to my heart.

By taking this pledge to discontinue the conversational use of the R-word, we can change the world.  One person at a time. 

We can change attitudes.  

We can change perspectives. 

We can change communities. 

WE can CHANGE LIVES.  

If you don't know about this topic, if you are underexposed and undereducated in this area.. get out there and educate yourself. 

If we can't CHANGE everyone's mind, attitude, perspective (preferably, all of the above), at the very least we are publicizing, advocating, and making OUR voice heard.  

Think about the ripple effect.  Think about the groundwork you are laying for the future.  Your future, my future, your children's' future. 

Think.  Especially before you speak. 

artwork : Alison Rowan

Today is the first day of the remainder of your life.  How do you want to live it?

xx. Mayonnaise. 

[check out this UNBELIEVABLY beautiful, though provoking post. Love That Max ]

also.. if you encounter someone who is completely not responsive to this movement, doesn't see the purpose, or is disrespectful, feel free to send them my way.  Mayonnaise has ways of expert persuasion.  (not really.. but TONS of testimony) (I'm a lover, not a fighter.. I swear)