Sept 14, My CMT Journey continues....

Joel just absolutely adored his Nana and Papa. It was a celebration for sure when my mom had all her children and grandchildren in the same state. The year,1988 was exciting with a new home and new friends for both Joel and I. I prayed this day would come. How sweet it is when prayers are answered in our favor! Although, Patty and I had each other during the holidays, it was a wonderful time to spend Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas with the rest of my family. Happy times filled with laughter. Of course what would a family gathering be like without strife. I looked to family members for support and encouragement. But, sometimes one's family may not be the ones to go to. So I found another support group and attended two times a week. My marriage was starting to crumble. I had the attitude that if my husband didn't straighten out his life I always have my family to help financially and my group to help emotionally. I thought if this marriage was from God, it wouldn't be so hard to work on. Friends, how wrong I was. Relationships take a lot of work. Some more than others, and it takes both parties to work on it in order for it to be healthy. It only takes one to break it apart. The thing that kept coming up in my head was a statement someone said my mom made years ago. Whenever she had an argument with my father, she supposedly said, “If he wasn't handicapped I would leave him”. I don't think my mom knew those words would find their way back to me. I didn't want my husband to stay in a marriage out of pity. I wanted him to stay and fight for us because he loved us. So, I gave my husband an ultimatum, either get into counseling or I'm filing for separation. He left. That day my son cried in his sleep for his daddy. The pain was so unbearable for me listening to him. I cried, I prayed, I didn't know what to do. I felt that I wanted my son to have a dad that would support him and love him. I learned to not make empty threats so I had to follow through.. However, the purpose of doing so was to bring my husband back in a willing manner to work on our issues. I unexpectedly met someone. We started dating. I felt so alive, beautiful and most definitely deceived. The enemy knows exactly what it takes to cause you to fall. My husband never said encouraging words to me or made me feel attractive so when others did I got caught up in the deception. My husband couldn't handle me dating someone else so he filed for divorce. The man I was dating left me shortly after for someone else. Then, sorrow came, my dad passed away in 1989 at the age of 62. I was devastated. My dad died unexpectedly and it was a shock for all. He wasn't feeling well that week. He was having black outs where he didn't remember things. The doctor just watched closely and didn't see an emergence in putting my dad

Dad with Joel

Scott, Joel and Christine (Cousins)

in the hospital. I was sure my decision to separate from my husband caused God's anger and took my dad's life. Remember my faith at the time was based on works. They call that Karma and it's belief can lead to destructive bondage. My mom decided not to have an autopsy so we never really determined the cause of death. Although they assured us it was not CMT related. I wonder if deep down inside my mom was concerned perhaps it was and didn't want to put any more fear into her life or ours. “CMT never affects the brain and it usually does not affect life expectancy, but can, in rare instances, cause severe disability” (CMTA What is CMT). To be continued.....If you feel led to give any donations for researching a cure, you can give online at http://www.cmtausa.org or to the MDA http://www2.mda.org/goto/CMTChallenge