Jesmyluk

     Censorship has been around for as long as humans have been around, it ebbs and flows in an unrelenting stream throughout time and when used judiciously by trained professionals does serve a useful purpose, offering protection from harmful things to those who either cannot or do not know how to protect themselves. This country is currently experiencing an inordinate amount of censorship in American public libraries. This current flow of censorship has been filled with vitriol, and harassment, in the form of book challenges/book banning, proposals of harsh laws that call for punishing librarians and libraries, and outlawing story hours for preschoolers led by drag queens. The books most likely to be banned are those that are written by or for people of color or people in the LGBTQIA+ community, in other words, the most marginalized members of society among us. The amount of higher education required to obtain a degree in library sciences is considerable. To become a li...

Our beautiful boy, Liam was taken off the vent at 7:30pm last night, (the 25th of February), he passed away this morning (the 26th of February) at 10:40am. He is free of AT & reuniting w family in heaven today. There are no words that can truly express how we all feel this morning. Grateful to have had such an amazing soul as an integral part of this family for the last 19 years. Grateful for the outpouring of love we've felt from all of you. Grateful for the memories we each hold of Liam. And devastated by the loss of our sweet baby Liam. There is a piece of our hearts that is no longer with us & we feel its loss keenly. Walk, run, fly free our Liam. We love you so much, thank you for choosing our family as your forever family. We learned so much from you. Your smile, laugh, wit, heart, & hugs are greatly missed sweet boy. We love you now & forever. ❤️ Mom & Dad. PS. In honor of Rare Disease Day this Sunday the 28th of February please consider donating to the A...

The months of September, October, & December flew by, as is their wont to do.  School, work, errands, tests, presentations, assignments, check-ups, dentist visits, new arrangements at CA's work (for the better), lots of baking, cooking, cleaning, shopping, holidays, celebrations, parties, gifts, & candy made the time fly.  All the same exciting/ordinary things that happen in your houses too.  Hence the no reporting on them.  No news is good news, so it's said. As we are on Christmas break here & I am all caught up, for the minute, w my responsibilities, I thought I would take a minute to ponder the great wonders of the universe.  Not really.  Just passing on some things I've thought about or noticed lately.  Nothing earth-shattering, nothing that will change the face of human existence or even everyday life that goes on in this house.  Just "things". For example; we moved here to Wisconsin July 1st, 2011.  We've been here 6.5 ...

Yesterday CA, Liam, & I had a very busy day at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin (CHOW).  It was Liam's annual getting ready to go back to school check ups with his main specialists. We had 4 appointments starting at 10:30 in the morning & ending at 4 in the afternoon. This is a normal hospital day for Liam & I, but his dad was able to take off work to accompany us.  Thank goodness because getting Liam to the bathroom is getting harder for me as he is just about the same size I am, height wise.  We also see the specialists every spring (end of the school year).  It used to be everyone wanted us in there every 3 months so they could keep a close eye on his frail health, but we usually ended up seeing them once a month because he was constantly sick or at least talking to them at length over the phone.  But it has been nearly 2 years since Liam's last hospital stay.  Right at that point, they decided that IgG infusions weren't enough to keep h...

I've told you how Liam was diagnosed .  And I've told you what happens after diagnosis . As we are finishing up the month of August, (aka A-T Awareness Month) just 9 days left to go, it seemed only fair to inform you of how you can help make a difference in the lives of A-T kids & their families. First off there are multiple ways to make a difference.  Donating money is the easiest.  But it is just one way...not the only way or even the best way.  It's totally up to your personal preference.  Let me also preface this post by telling you, you do NOT have to be related to or personally know an A-T kid (or A-T family) in order to help. How Can I Help Fund a Cure for A-T: 1.)  Donate (online) to the A-T Children's Project at this link here... 2.)  Donate via snail mail... A-T Children's Project 5300 W Hillsboro Blvd. Ste 105 Coconut Creek, FL 33073 USA 3.)  Call 1-800-543-5728 or 954-481-6611 Like I said donating money is one ...

If you read the beginning of Liam's Story then you know how Liam was diagnosed with A-T.  You know that it nearly broke us all.  And that it changed us forever, as it should.  Being a parent is hard.  Being a parent of a special needs kid is harder.  Being the parent of a child that you know will die before you, the parent, is impossible.  Impossible to wrap your mind around.  Wrap your heart around.  Wrap your faith around.  BTW...we have NEVER sat down with Liam & told him about the expiration date that looms on his horizon.  It is hard enough to get through a regular, atypical kind of life.  It is even harder to get through a life filled with sickness, hospitals, Dr appts, blood tests, medicines, injections, etc... without knowing that you don't even get to live to a ripe old age, no matter how many of the former you spend enduring.  Besides, we figure we are all going to die.  Depressing right?  But it...

Normally, I would write a missive in which I share all the boring deets of our every day lives with you, my friends & family, and possibly the complete strangers who might, although I doubt it, read this plain old boring family blog, publicly.  But this month is a special month.  The entire month of August is our chance to raise awareness for a rare disease that affects my family daily.  So here is Liam's story. Liam was born a perfectly healthy 6lb 13 oz baby in May of 2001.  Both of his Apgar scores were 10s.  He came out angry.  But he had the cord wrapped around his neck twice & had to be suctioned out.  Once they got the cord off his neck, which was almost instantly, he let us know in no uncertain terms he was furious at how he came into this world.  Other than initial anger, he was a very happy, easy going baby.  He rolled, crawled, sat, grew teeth, & laughed at all the appropriate times.  His benchmarks were exac...