October 12, 2014 celebrated something that is obviously near-and-dear to my heart (and joints): raising awareness to the various forms of arthritis. Especially juvenile–and young adult–arthritis. World Arthritis Day is the recognized day where all the coolest people band together to say to their peers, the medical community, and law makers,"this disease exists, do something about it guys."
One day, I hope that we will all be able to say "this disease existed, it sucked but look at us overcoming it and shit." Or at the very least, raise enough awareness that people won't judge us for our invisible disabilities anymore–because there's nothing lovelier than "you don't look sick, are you sure, you're too young, if you just ate right" on a day when you're too crippled to walk.
However. If there's nothing else that this past weekend has done (and hopefully it's also raised a ton of awareness), it has also shown me what an amazing support system I have. There's plenty of times where I fall into the 'woe-is-me' hole of life with a chronic illness, it's a dangerous pit but often it happens. I'd been proved wrong though. Last week, I'd said to wear blue for this event and to take pictures, and to be perfectly honest I didn't expect anyone besides my mom to actually wear blue (because that's what moms are supposed to do whether they like it or not). Except, I'd woken up on Sunday with several notifications from Instagram and Facebook where I had been tagged in pictures where some beautiful and rad people were sporting some crazy stylish blue clothing, and most importantly raising awareness. (Confession: I'm a bit of an over-emotional person, and I literally started to tear up a little like I was watching Old Yeller). It's a humbling, and heartwarming experience to say the least.
So, thank you to everyone who supports me whether by wearing blue or just by being there for me: my mom and dad, Melanie Christmas (and her family), Bryanna Griswell, Bekah Moon, Cindy and Ron Foxworth (and all of Knights of Solomon Motorcycle Club), Jane Nickel, Lora and Bill Fields, my brother, sister, and sister-in-law, Stephen Bloodworth, Kacie Harris, Kerry Hancock Abdo (my most knowledgeable of nurses about ports and medications), all my camp friends (Sarah, Mallory, Whitney, Savannah, Naa Adoley, Laurel, AJ, Matthew, Jordan, and all the campers I've had), and also like a million other people. You make me ugly-cry tears of joy a lot. I couldn't handle life without all of you. Thank you.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Hugs + Kisses,
Julia.
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We must stop and find time to thank the people who make a difference in our lives.
-John F. Kennedy
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