Month: September 2013

Resilient: Capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture

Psychological resilience is an individuals tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state …

I like the first definition the best. Many times I feel like I may rupture 🙂 And I am quite sure I have developed a permanent deformation. 

The last couple weeks I have been privy to a lot of resilient human beings. Nothing makes me more proud of us, as a people, as human beings than the ability to carry on, make the best of things and live our lives with the goal of being happy, especially in the face of adversity. 

We have had these horrible floods. And I have been amazed at the outpouring of generosity in our area AND the resiliency of those who have been affected….. I work with several people who will be displaced for the next couple months, and they come into work, and they attend meetings and if you ask, they will talk about the flood and that they went to the Red Cross for a toothbrush and some new undies and they are crashing on a friends floor....but hey, it’s all good……and when did you need that project? 

And I want to fall at their feet and say Work doesn’t matter! Let me make you a tater tot hot dish! 

But they are gluten and dairy free and tater tot hot dishes don’t convert well to gluten free. So I don’t say what I should say, except that they are resilient superheros. 

Speaking of resilient Superheros, last week was Mitochondrial Awareness Week and we had a support group on Saturday. I love seeing the parents, the kiddos and the hope they have in the face of an ever-changing, craptastic diagnosis. 

That does not stop these families. 

We made thank you cards for our Courage Classic Donors

This is Robert on his bike…..he does an amazing job on this bike! 

Robert likes his bike so much he let Cal try it out. I think Cal liked it too! 

You made have heard the news in Northern Colorado…..

It has been raining up here for five days.

Our mountain town of Lyons has been evacuated. Towns up the Big Thompson River are gone, 177 people are unaccounted for, people are now displaced, potentially for weeks. They say this has been the largest air rescue since Katrina.

And..it.. is…still….raining…..

Hubs and I are fine except for the fact that in situations like these I worry excessively. And then I listen to KBCO and songs like Sting’s ‘Fragile’ come on. Have you listened to the words? Good lord….

On and On the rain will fall
Like tears from a star, like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are, how fragile we are

I hate sad songs that have relevance to the situation…and I get all weepy.


And it is still raining. For a while this week our little town of Loveland was split in two. The Big Thompson overflowed cutting off North/South access throughout town. Interstate 25 closed because the Big Ol’ T also decided to flow onto the road and into Weld county- cutting off access into Denver and Wyoming. South of us is Longmont, divided by two full flooding rivers that are wrecking havoc and causing evacuations.

West? West is worst. West is where all of the airlifts are taking place.

I have never been in this situation before. So did what every trapped, weepy, worried, can’t-do-anything-about-it person does.

I went to the grocery store.

Unbeknownst to me, this was the only accessible grocery store in South Loveland. Everything else was North of the Big T and cut off to us. Clearly poor planning. 

This is what I found: 

There is a Florence and the Machines song that I rock out to quite often. 

The lyrics go like this: 

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air
I know I can count on you
Sometimes I feel like saying “Lord I just don’t care”
But you’ve got the love I need To see me through

Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough
And things go wrong no matter what I do
Now and then it seems that life is just too much
But you’ve got the love I need to see me through

This is my mantra lately. 

‘Cuz I gotta tell ya, 
Ya’ll got the love. 

Thursday was our Miracles for Mito Silent Auction and in case ya’ll are wondering what we have been doing this past year, here’s a breakdown: 

Financial help for two handicap vans
One Stair lift
One Scooter
Respite Care
Travel expenses to see a Specialist out of State
Meals delivered to families in the hospital
Supplement coverage
Sponsorship into the National Mitochondrial Database
Purchase of the Oxygraph 2K Diagnostic Machineis 

This was only possible because of all of you and your generosity. 

I was quite weepy the week before- as I get when I think of everything our tribe has given….

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