My friend Brittany joined us for the day!
Be Kind Today shirt by Doc Shorty c/o || Paige Skinny Jeans || Leopard Loafers || Freyrs Sunnies c/o || Tory Burch Bag || Daniel Wellington Watch c/o || Jackie Kennedy Unity Band || Jackie Kennedy Emerald Unity Band ||
Happy Monday, friends! This post holds a special place in my heart. Not only do I 100% completely agree with the "Be Kind Today" message, but 10% off profits are donated to Multiple Sclerosis research. The shirt is sooooo soft and made in the USA. What's not to love?! Everyone needs a comfy cool t-shirt to wear. Why not make it one that is insanely soft, made in the USA and donates a portion of its profits to a worthy cause. That's a win in my book!
For those of you who do not know, my mother was diagnosed back in 1997 with MS. She unfortunately had a very bad form of it and declined quickly. I was only 9 years old at the time and my brother was 7. She lost use of her legs first and then over the years lost use of her hands. She eventually became bed ridden, only being able to get out of bed with a hoyer lift. Even then, she had trouble being able to sit up and needed a wheel chair that would recline. It was hard for me to accept this was happening to my mom at such a young age. My brother and I had to mature quickly and help out as much as we were able to. My dad took care of my mom every single day until the very end. I'm not going to lie and say it was easy. It was incredibly hard, but we all did it. We all pitched it and tried to make life as normal as we could. We took as many trips as we could together, got my mom out and about, and kept her up to date on everything that was happening in our lives outside of the house. We made what fun we could even though she was in bed. We'd watch classic movies together, some of our favorite tv shows, gossip about news events and our lives, bring home her favorite drink from Starbucks or little surprises we saw that we thought she would like, look at photographs I had taken on the tv, and much more. She made it to my wedding too. She was such a trooper that day and I was so proud of her. In later years she could only stay out of bed for 1 or 2 hours. That day, she came to the ceremony, went home to take a nap, and then stayed for the entire reception. She had an amazing inner strength.
As I said, over the years she would lose use of certain things. First and immediately were her legs, then her hands, bladder, some short term memory, speech issues, and eventually having trouble swallowing. My mom never gave up though. She was a fighter and always had hope. She never wanted to be counted out of anything. She raised us and was an amazing mother even from her bed. I couldn't have asked for a better mother than her and I can only hope that I'm half as good of a mother to Ava as she was to my brother and I. I had a magical childhood and I attribute that to both of my parents. My mom lost her battle on December 27, 2013. My dad, brother and I were all holding onto her as she passed away in our arms. Justin had to hold me up because of how hard I was crying and screaming. I couldn't even breathe. MS changed all our lives forever. It is a terrible disease that currently has no cure. It doesn't get talked about enough, but I keep hearing more and more people being diagnosed with it. I've included some links within this post to the Multiple Sclerosis website. If anyone else has gone through something similar, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
This photo collage is from my first post ever here on this blog, which I dedicated to my mom. You can view it here.
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xo, Amanda