by Paula | Jan 30, 2016 | Anorexia sucks, Uncategorized
I recently learned that one of the 300 souls that participated in our September Walk against eating disorders lost her life due to complications of anorexia in December. She was 17.
Why did she die? Her passing is a grim reminder that 15- 20% of those diagnosed with anorexia will die — either directly from the affects of starvation or from suicide brought on by the despair of the illness. While we may be able to see the affects of anorexia on the body , we cannot always see the despair, anxiety and depression that underlines the condition. It is heartbreaking.
Why am I talking about this? The young woman’s mentor and teacher reached out to me because of my connection with NEDA. She wants to DO something to honor the young woman’s memory and to raise awareness in her community. She is translating her grief into activism. Some of the most dedicated eating disorder activists are those that have lost someone close to them.
What does this mean to me? It’s time to re-ignite my recently dormant inner-fire. It’s time to look at activities for Eating Disorder Awareness week (end of February); It’s time to convene the 2016 Madison NEDA Walk committee.
What does this mean to the NEDA walk? We are having our organizational kick-off in a couple weeks. We will honor the young woman’s memory and do everything in our power to prevent losing another walker. From any city. Ever again.
What does this mean for you? To all of my readers (I know there’s at least three of you): Please consider registering for the Minneapolis NEDA Walk in February Mpls NEDA Walk link… or to donate to the walk via my page: Donate here. Learn more about How your NEDA donations help. If you can’t go to Minneapolis — Stay tuned for more information about local events associated with Eating Disorder awareness week.
Be well my friends.
by Paula | Jan 1, 2016 | Family, Uncategorized
We’ve been in our house almost two months now, and it’s feeling like home. The ginormous Christmas tree in the Living room and the stockings over the mantle help it feel super cozy. Dan has a couple weeks off over the holidays, and has been ‘nesting’ by working on a variety of small home projects.
Dan used to sell LED lights, and is always on the lookout for ways to improve lighting–whether it is in our home, or in a public place. I have eaten many restaurant dinners while listening to Dan describe (in detail) how the lighting could and should be improved upon. Dan is enjoying improving the lighting in our new home, and I believe he has changed every light bulb that is within reach; while increasing his already impressive hoard inventory of bulbs in our basement.
Another home project required the assistance of my son Ben, and his van. Ben and Dan met at our old house (which we still own – that is another topic entirely); to pick up a few last remaining items. It had been raining heavily for several days; and after going through a large sploshey puddle, the serpentine belt (I have no idea what that is) of the van fell off. After 45 minutes or so of soggy struggling our intrepid men had the belt back in place and they continued in their task.
We have a small concrete pad outside our garage; normally it is fine to drive onto the grass adjoining the concrete; unless the grass has turned into a swampy pile of squishy mud due to an unusually heavy rainfall. While trying to back the van up to the garage, the front end sunk deep into the gunk and no amount of coaxing, sand, chains, kitty litter, swearing or other time-tested techniques were able to get it unstuck. A tow truck was called.
This appears to have been the tow truck driver’s first day on the job; and he failed to heed the excellent advice offered by Dan to apply some physics when positioning the tow truck relative to other solid objects in the vicinity. Although the van was successfully snagged, our marshy yard acquired many tow-truck wheel size divots and our mailbox was smashed in the ensuing debacle.
As an epilogue to this story; Guzzy’s friend got his dad’s van stuck in the same spot two nights ago. This time the culprit was snow and ice, versus mud. This occurred about midnight, during the Badgers Football team bowl appearance; let’s just say the timing wasn’t good. However, after several attempts and some old fashioned Midwest ingenuity, we were able to get the van on the road. (I use the term ‘we’ lightly – I was watching from the living room).
Dan’s next project is going to be putting up a sign, a fence, or some type of barrier to keep the stupid van(s) off the grass!
