Life is made up of choices, and after hearing the words, "Kendall, I am sorry to say this, but you have Friedreich's Ataxia," 9 years ago today, I was faced with a choice: I could bend or I could break.
As a 24-year-old newlywed who was handed a progressively degenerative (terminal) neurological disease diagnosis, I had no real idea what my future now held. All I do was choose to trust that God held my future and do my best to bend and not break.
I chose to become a stay-at-home mom to two healthy, energetic, strong-willed, funny kids that remind me daily that life is precious and SO not all about me and my FA. I choose to fiercely love my amazing, supportive, kind, hilarious, and generous husband to the best of my ability. I choose to love my friends and family and treat them like the treasures they are. I choose to thank God daily for the abundance of blessings I have in my life.
When I feel like I might break, I choose to extend myself copious amounts of grace. I choose to roll with the punches: adapt, adapt, adapt, then adapt again. I choose to humbly and constantly depend on assistance. I choose to graciously accept support, pity, curiosity, help, encouragement, ignorance, and kindness. I fail, fall, and break, then choose to get up and try again. I choose to rely on peace and strength from God every minute of every day.
After 9 years of choices, I have grown more than I ever thought possible. I have laughed harder, cried harder, loved harder, and prayed harder than I ever thought possible. In my refusal to let FA break me, I have made plenty of mistakes, but I have also made the choice to redefine my idea of "possible."