Being the Change!

I attended a phenomenal event yesterday,TEDxSunRiver.  It was one I went into with absolutely no expectations.  But when I left, I was lifted, inspired and even moved emotionally to tears.

There were so many speakers, so many messages and yet the one theme that rang through the voices was that being the change begins with YOU!

When this beautiful 15 year old, Emily Lopez, stood up and gave a talk about igniting a SPARK within.  I was touched.  We all have a flame of passion that burns inside us, but may not realize it.  What sparks your passions, what are you passions and what do you do with them?  Do you share them, do you stand up for them, do you rise with them?

I had no idea what my passion was.  I have always been taught that I must have passion for my work, or it is meaningless.  However, what does that mean?

In the last two months, the message about passion has been being drilled into my cranium! From a very moving speech by the National Association of Realtors President who came to little old St. George to share one of his passions, supporting RPAC, to this TEDxSunRiver event that was mind altering and life changing.

So, what have I decided is my passion?  Well, I feel as though I am on the verge of that.  I have so many things going through my mind.  The one thing I know today, is I live with integrity and teach it daily in my actions.  Now I need to apply it to something that is meaningful and empowering and something that fills my heart with the passion and drive to become something more that I have been in the past, someone of excellence!

As Emily Lopez shared her inspirational message of SPARK, she also mentioned the struggle that she had to overcome to make this video.  The many people she invited to the park to film this video with her, of all of those that she touched while sharing the message, none of them showed up.  So, instead, she turned this moment of spark into a flame as she engaged the people that were in the park that day to share their voice!

It never ceases to amaze me, that the greatest people have made so many plans, yet it is within moments of impending failure that they rise above it all and create something more than they could have imagined themselves!

Thank you to the youth of the world who are finding their voice and their spark!  I know we are leaving our world in the most capable hands possible for our time!

I Found My Chin!

For years, my DOUBLE chin has been haunting me.  In the past, when I looked in the mirror, I could see nothing from the neck down!  Being overweight, I didn't pay attention, thinking that in the public eye, all they saw was my face! WRONG!  What was I thinking?

Of course they see the entire picture.  The one that I block out daily.  Recently, after some frightening tests, my Doctor said, "You need to lose weight and get some exercise in order to avoid Diabetes, you are right on the borderline and you need to change your habits!"   

On the other end of that phone call, I was feeling punished.  Had he done that to me? NO, I did it to myself.

So, I made a change that is changing my life every day! 

I have always had a love affair with food.  Every taste of a meal reminds me of something wonderful and good in my life.  So, I equate food with good feelings and who wants to curb good feelings.  Isn't that what we strive for every day?  

Today, 8 weeks later and 22 pounds lighter, I am starting to see some good feelings on my face.  I looked in the mirror this morning and I could see a chin!  I have a different outlook on things and feel as though I can do this.  

With more energy, better food choices and a desire to live again, I am going forward.  I helps that I am in a little contest at work with others to help our office get more healthy!  I love this journey so far, even though I know it will get harder, but I am on the right path!

I am looking to the lighter side of food and starting to make good memories with it, so that I can replace the other good feelings with even better ones!

Happy Father's Day!

First, I want to say Happy Father's Day to all!  Anyone who steps up to the plate and is a real Dad in a young person's life, is worthy of honor today.  It takes all kinds of people.  Some are single mother's taking on both roles, some are Dad's that came into a child's life long after they were born, but take the role seriously and provide stability and love.  To all, you deserve acknowledgement.

My father is no longer here, he resides in Heaven.  I miss him every day.  I Thank God for his presence in my life for all the wonderful years that I got to share with him.  He was funny, he was sweet, he great big arms to hold you tight and hands that were so large, when he held yours, you knew the world was going to be alright.  Those are the physical things that he gave to me.  But the gifts he left for me were much bigger than all of that.

He left me humor, so that I may carry on in his tradition of making people smile.  He left me fairness, so that I may know how to treat people.  He left me understanding, so that I may have a sympathetic ear and always make people feel as though they can be heard.  He left me acceptance, that I may drive down the street and feel as though I could wave at anyone and everyone, without exception, and make them my friend.  He left me a sensitive heart, so that I can feel for those I do not even know.  He left me gentleness, so that I may appreciate little children.

These are little gifts.  Over the years since he has been gone, I have found so many more gifts that he left for me, planted deep in my soul, that I could write this blog forever and there still wouldn't be enough room to put it all down.

May your time with your Dad be special and may you treasure your memories for life!  Happy Father's Day!

Hiram Wilson Brayton

You will forever be missed!

I love you with all my heart Dad!

Hero of a Different Kind!

This past Memorial Day, we celebrated our fallen Hero's and those that serve to protect our freedoms.  It is rather humbling to know so many have fought for the freedoms that we have today.

But, today, I am humbled for a different reason and am in awe of a different kind of Hero!  My son!  He hasn't fought in a war or even served in the military, but he fights a battle every day.

About a year ago this June, he fractured his femur.  It was a major break to a major bone in the body.  His thigh bent in half like another knee! YUKK...I have to cringe as I remember crying with him while he was in pain.  He had surgery to insert a rod from his hip to his knee. Thus began a year long recovery.

Because of the nature of the break, there we questions as to how it happened.  The reality is, he was laid up for 6 weeks prior to that for what they thought was a knee injury.  He was waiting or his insurance company to approve an MRI.  He is on Medicaid and they take quite a while for their approval process on some things.  After 6 weeks of being in a knee brace and hopping around on crutches, he sat down in a chair in his room and his thigh snapped like a twig!

Of course, the femur is the largest and strongest bone in your body and you really have to be doing a lot to break it.  Therefore, the doctors were very curious and started testing him for bone cancer and other factors that could lead to such weak bone.

After months of recuperating from the surgery, they started the long process of determining what caused it.  It turns out that my son, at age 26 has severe Osteoporosis, his thyroid is affected and testosterone levels with a severe vitamin D deficiency.  In a bone density test, they determined that his bones are that of a 65 - 70 year old with Osteoporosis.  People automatically associate this disease with older people and think, they have medicine that they can take for that, no big deal.  It is a big deal, especially for someone who is only 26 years old and is facing life in a wheel chair within the next 6 to 10 years.

This disease is most commonly noted among women of advanced age with hormone deficiency due to menopause or surgically induced by having ovaries removed.  However, men can also get this disease when testosterone levels are low and there are other causes as well.

Right now, David's bones look like Swiss Cheese and he is at HIGH risk of fracture at any moment.  One fracture, a really bad one, could put him down for quite a while, especially if it is in the back.  

Having a 2 year old daughter and a part time job for now, he tries to go about life as normal as he can, but life for him can change in the blink of an eye. 

We are working with his doctors to get a much needed drug approved through his insurance for him, it is costly and nothing we could even help him afford.  But at this moment, they have denied him several times.  It is one of the only treatments that will help him build his bone back to a healthy level in a two year treatment.  But, Medicaid is his insurance and the will not pay for it.  

As we sit and wait for the red tape to be cut, we have no idea what is in store.  I can't tell you how I admire you David for your patience and strength without knowing the outcome or your future!  I love you with all of my heart and soul and would move Heaven and earth for you, were it possible.  

Dad and I Love you David!