Hashtag I am here FOR Steve.

At some point in our lives we will all learn the inevitability of disappointment.  It will happen to you. It happens to everyone.  Plans fall through, accidents, illness, etc.

I had a teacher in undergrad, who used to say, "You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle lives disappointing moments."   It sounds like a weird thing to be thankful for, but I'm thankful I learned that disappointments WILL happen early on, and my mother always helped us learn to turn that disappointment into something good.  

Because life with ALS, disappointments come a little more frequent, so we are turning our today's disappointment into something good, and we need y'alls participation. :) 

So if you know Steve and I at all, you know we used to enjoy being out and about in many ways.  Some of our favorites were of course live music in all forms, sporting events (that was totally for Steve ;)), Steve's art shows, events thrown by our amazing friends, the river, traveling, etc.  We just loved being around others and in the hustle and bustle.

Our outings have obviously decreased as Steve's progressed to currently we haven't been out of the house together except to go to the hospital.  Steve has an art show tonight at ABV gallery, 7-11 where you can see all his incredible paintings on display.  Steve's art shows in the past have been some of my favorite outings.  I would love to see the joy on Steve's face as he watched people be moved by art he created with his wheels, and how inspired everyone was by Steve's drive to make beauty out of adversity.

We have been looking forward to going, until we realized we aren't.  Steve's had a cough the past week, much like he gets every change of season.  Unfortunately he was up coughing last night, so much that he had a full blown panic attack.  Needless to say, a night of no sleep and that kind of trauma on the body has left him feeling not well enough to go.  

So in an effort to take a disappointing situation and turn it into a good one, I am asking that everyone who goes tonight; take a picture and when you share it include hashtag #IamhereFORSteve as you are all there for him, since he can't be. 

Why stop there, if you are ever at a concert, festival, at the beach, sporting event (especially UGA), traveling, etc; and you think of Steve, take a photo and use the hashtag.  I know him feeling like he is at all these places with you, helps him.  

So today I will be making our day at home together special, we will be skyping with everyone at the show, and we will be following on social media the hashtag, so we will be there with you! 

Even in life's disappointments there's still  beauty.  In this case it's that technology can help us feel connected to those supporting us.  <3 

#IamhereFORSteve 

xo