CONTEST - Your family - WINNER ANNOUNCED!

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 17.04.2008, 00:15

crzynana2001 wrote: › There are a few different types of spina bifida. There is spina bifida that is through the skin with the spinal cord exposed. There is spina bifida occulta which is hidden under the skin and is less easily diagnosed. Mine is occulta and I was 34 before it was diagnosed. It explained why I had bending problems growing up and through high school. It has affected how long I can remain in a sitting position, how long I can stand in one postion, and how much I can lift. It has led to me having to give up my handicapped son, who I could no longer care for. Spina bifida is an opening in the spinal column, usually a birth defect noticed shortly after birth. There is now surgery that can be done on newborns to correct this problem (sometimes) . Although at my age, there is not much that can be done. Rarely, spina bifida is painful, and that is the type that I have, It causes pain radiating across the lower back and down both legs. Weakness in the lower back and legs is also less common, but noted in my case.

MS is a steadily debilitationg disease that is not easily diagnosed. Brain lesions is usually a sign of MS. MS stands for multiple sclerosis. The type my daughter has is being rediagnosed as we speak, from recurring to ongoing symptoms. With recurring, the syptoms occur avery 3-4 months then go into remission. With ongoing, the symptoms beomce gradually worse over time, eventually leasing to being wheelchair bound. At this point, my daughter is only 29 and is already using a cane for increased mobility. I hope this helps some understand these diseases.

Thank you, Crzynana, for responding to my request to offer us a bit of education about these two terrible conditions.

My heart aches for both you and your daughter.

Yet your personality is so overwhelmingly positive, selfless, and caring for others that it must bring great moments of happiness to you.

God bless you!

Your Guru

Posts: 2787 · Posted: 17.04.2008, 02:06

Thank you for the kind words Guru, they mean a lot to me! Smile

Posts: 444 · Posted: 17.04.2008, 04:23

First I want to say, great contest; all the pictures and stories are wonderful, everyone has beautiful families and hearwarming stories. And thanks to Nana, I had heard you discuss your condition before but never really knew a whole lot about it, thank you for informing us & God bless you, you surely have a lot to deal with but you're always so upbeat & kind, you sure made me feel welcome when I was new to bingo.
I have a husband Randy who keeps me on my toes, 2 girls-Sarah who will be 4 in June and Trinity who just turned 2, and we also have a newborn, Landis, 3 weeks old today. The kids are the light of my life, they are so cool & funny and sometimes drive me a little crazy. Laughing

But they wouldn't be kids if they didn't!
I have decent in laws, and my family..... well, they put the fun in disfunctional, I'll leave it at that!! I don't know if anyone's familiar with the American sitcom Roseanne, but when that show first came out, I thought, wow, that's my family!! LOL, but I love 'em anyhow. I'm going to try to attach kiddie pictures, but I'm still not good at it, so if I botch it, I'm sorry.
Keep the great stories coming & thanks for another great contest!

Posts: 379 · Posted: 17.04.2008, 10:24

Well im 38 and have 2 brothers and one sister.

My parents seperated when i was 3, so times were ough for us as kids with mum battling.

fastforward

I have 2 children, one boy and one girl

the boy being from when i was 18 and do not have the luxury of seeing him for the last 10 years

my daughter is six

My mother is/was a school teacher for 30 odd years at the same school

my eldest brother is in the bar industry as a manager

my sister doesnt see any family members cause she is a ^%&&^%^&^

and my brother done some time and is back out making a living with 2 kids

thats about it..........

Life is what you make of it........

So make the most of it with your family that will always love you

Chris

Posts: 108 · Posted: 17.04.2008, 15:49

Everyone's life story is truely amazing. CrzyNana and Char, you both are in my thoughts and prayers.

My story:

I grew up an army brat with my 2 sisters and 1 brother. We moved around alot and I have lived in many different places, from Hawaii to the Bahamas.

I am a mother to 4 sons, 3 from my first marriage and 1 from my marriage to Rob. My sons ages are 25, 23, 22 and 4 yrs old. My oldest son served our country in the Navy and is now attending college on the GI Bill. My #2 son is a motorcycle buff and works in construction. My #3 son is attending college, majoring as a bio-chemical engineer. My #4 son stays busy running our house...... lol As he is the youngest with 3 older brothers, he is well advanced for his age. He was reading Dr Suess books at the age of 3, he can spell about 500 words, he knows how to run a computer almost as well as I can. Just yesterday, after he finished coloring a picture at nickjr.com, he clicked on PRT SCRN and proceeded to
save the screen shot in paint shop. Our "Rascal" (as we like to call him) can point out all 50 states on a map for you and can name almost all the states nicknames.

Being an older mother, I am honored to be permitted to stay home from work with him. I try to keep him very active, but I am running out of ideas..... lol If anyone has any fun things to do, please let me know.

Never in my life did I think, that at 45 yrs old, I would be able to play with playdoh, blow bubbles, make painted macaroni necklaces or swim in a 10 foot kiddie pool!! I cherish each moment that I get to share with him.

If you happen to see a post from me and cannot understand what it says, it was most likely posted from the Rascal. Believe it or not, he has been known to make a few post on the forums that I have worked on.

I play poker to unwind from my day. I usually only play after the Rascal is in bed, or if hubby is keeping him busy.

Posts: 1825 · Posted: 17.04.2008, 17:12

Oh Bee you have a very diverse family that sounds absolutely wonderful and SHOWS that you are a VERY good mother!! Your 3 year old I can just picture how he is!! Please shw us some family pics!!

Posts: 3276 · Posted: 18.04.2008, 02:17

Well since I and Spookth are brothers I'll describe our siblings and he can write about another family.LOL!!!
I don't have a wife[anymore] or kids.
There were 11 kids in our family.Needless to say Ma stayed at home with us while Da worked mostly in the coal mines.He did some fishing and construction work in his later years.
John[Bunny] is the oldest.He works at the Halifax dockyards and dabbles in real estate.
Alex[Mug] worked for the Dept of highways.He died in an accident on the job.
Hughie[Venus] is retired from Canadian Armed Forces.
Archie[Me] is retired from Canadian Tire Corp on medical pension.
Jane is retired as Lab Technician from Inverness Hospital.
Liz is a medical secretary for local doctors.
Lawrence is in Canadian Armed Forces as a Padre.
Karen owns her own campground in Lake Ainslie.
Leo[Spookth] works at the QE2 Hospital
Michael is the head computer programmer for the local School Board.
Cathy works at the local pharmacy.

Posts: 510 · Posted: 19.04.2008, 06:03

It was such a pleasure to read all wonderful family stories and great pictures. I don`t think I will write much about me, since there is no enough space for story of my life .. its very complicated,but very happy too. So I just stick to short introduction. I was born in Warsaw ,Poland.My father is general in Polish Army and all my life I we were moving from to different places very often .I have been so many countries , that I adopt easily in every place I'm in. So, when I was living in NY 12 years ago and was invited to California by stranger on Internet ( OK, he wasn't a stranger then , he already met me once ), I put my son ( from first marriage) in the car and we drove to California happy . So, here I am, very happily married to my Peter.Even I still don`t like California as much as I adore NY, I'm here and Peter is the best men a girl could ask for. Since he is 10 years younger then me, he feels he needs to cook for me and do dishes and he is taking better care for me then my first husband ( collage first love ) , even I divorce him out of stupidity, I was young ( 25 ) and didn't appreciate good men then .Peter is an architect, but he works from home, so we are staying home 24/7 for last 12 years and we are never, ever have enough of each other company. That's called happiness I think :-) .
Then ....

And now ....

And with my tallll son :-) ....

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 19.04.2008, 07:40

Kaska!

What a good-looking couple you and your husband are! So much so that I just had to comment on it!

Your Guru

Posts: 36 · Posted: 19.04.2008, 11:12

I just love reading about everyone's families and it's good to finally put a face to some of the names here and at CC.

So, here it goes, I am the youngest of 4 children, 2 boys, 2 girls, my brothers and sister all have birthdays in February, and mine is in October, so when I was growing up, I always felt like the odd man out, LOL! The oldest, Richard, 48, and is Autistic (wasn't diagnosed until he was about 6 years old, he is an expert in old movies, anything you want to know about old movies, even some old tv shows, he has the answer!) Rose, 47, divorced and has 3 kids, Rosie, 20, Richard Jr., 18, and Mattiella, 17 (I was lucky enough to be there when little Mattie came into the world, due to her father being a real dummy--but, that is probably the most amazing experience that I have had so far in my life, to see a baby being born. She holds a very special place in my heart, well and she was born 6 days before my birthday too, so I always say she is like an early birthday present for me!) Rose is on disability due to a back injury while she was working as a CNA at the vet hospital here (there is always something that she has to complain about, so we will move on..)... Then, there is my other brother, Gerald, 45, he is married, and has 4 kids, Alex, 16, Taylor, 9, Tyler, 8, James, 5. Gerald used to be a computer software engineer for honeywell, and now works at Blue Cross/Blue Shield as an IT person.

Then, there is me, Martha, 34, and there is 10 years difference between Gerald and myself, I was a "pleasent surprise" to my mom and dad when they found out my mom was pregnant at 43 years old, lol! Being the youngest, in some ways, felt like I was an only child when I was growing up. My dad taught me how to read at 3 years old, also how to play chess, and my family taught me how to play 7 card stud, 7 card no peek (or no peekie as my dad liked to call it), 5 card draw and 5 card stud when I was 3 years old also. I can remember saturday nights at the dinner table after dinner, everyone would gather their change up and we would all play poker, that was the best! My mom is still alive and kicking at 77, and she has a birthday coming up on April 28th, and her favorite thing is to steal away to the indian casino that is about 10 minutes away from where I live and play keno and of course, SLOTS! If my dad was still alive, they would have been married 49 years on April 26th, unfortunately, my dad passed away 11 years ago on the 4th of July. She misses him constantly and so do I.

Ok, so I am married to Lonnie, 36, and we have no children yet...but we have been trying for the 13 years that we have been married! He is a forklift and heavy equipment mechanic and he owns Lonnie Funk's Forklift Repair, if he isn't working or eating, he is more than likely asleep on his recliner about 5 feet away from me, snoring away! LOL!!! I said we don't have any children, but, we treat our 3 dogs like our children, there is Iggy, who is about 12 or 13 years old, and Princess, she is around 5 years old, and of course, my baby boy, Sparky he is like 6 years old. I love my dogs, talk to them all the time, feed them from my silverware when I am done eating (yes, they can eat from a spoon, or a fork, LOL!! they are so smart!), and have even tried dressing them in clothes, but they really don't like to be encumbered by clothing! LOL

I'll post some pictures and look forward to reading more stories and seeing more pictures!

Posts: 1825 · Posted: 19.04.2008, 18:04

TheFunk - I have to say Smile

In the Animal contest and in the Family contest I think you have some of the BEST posts!! You say so much and tell so much and it is so NICE to read them!!! They are informative, entertaining and a JOY to read!

Posts: 496 · Posted: 19.04.2008, 21:28

Well...I have 3 kids (2 boys and 1 girl) and 4 grandkids (2 boys and 2 girls)

My eldest son Chris (we call him...The baby factory) is 22 yrs old and has 3 kids..2 boys and 1 girl .. Anthony (4) Dallas (2) Jacob (1)

My Daughter Nadine (Nay Nay) is 20 yrs old and has 1 daughter ...Trenidy (1)

My youngest son Robert (daddy's boy) is 11 yrs old and is really into any kind of Xtreme sports there is (skateboarding,BMX events,motorcross.etc..) you know ,,,everything that scares or makes me worry hes into lol

And now me.. im 38yrs old and my hubby Mark (well never married) is 42yrs old
We have been together for 25 yrs ...ummm since I was 13yrs old.. LOL (2 yrs kind of rocky but we managed to overcome them)

He is a Truck Driver and me I used to Bartend but now im a stay at home mom (grandma).

Im the youngest of 5 ... 2 brothers and 2 sisters
Daddy's girl all the way ..if dad was there i was there (shoot pool.golfing. dr appts,shopping etc...) unsepparable lol

My dad and moms 50th wedding anniversary was in the 1st week of October 2007..Same week he found out he had Cancer with less then 2 weeks to live. On October 18th 2007 my dad (AKA My best Friend) past away. still hard for me to deal with

Well thats about it ...Good Thinking Crushers

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 20.04.2008, 02:30

Mojo,

My heart aches for yours, sweetheart.

But the seperation will not be nearly as long as the together again, this time forever, you can look forward to.

Your Guru

Posts: 718 · Posted: 20.04.2008, 07:37

Hi,

Well I have 2 younger sisters but I'm the better looking one Laughing

I also have 2 children Eric/21 & Kelly/18 they are the pride and joy in my life...I am happily divorced Smile

We have a total of 5 cats...3 at my ex hubbys house and 2 here at my home...

Also I must add the part of my family is Casino & Poker Crushers so I have really many siblings Wink

Hugs,

sisters Smile

Posts: 71 · Posted: 20.04.2008, 15:10

i have 3 kids 2 boys 1 girl ....jordan 13, logan 9 jaydan 18 months....

i have 2 sisters 1 is only 10 months younger than me and the other one is 5 years younger and i am 30 well almost LOL next saturday!!!