BTW: I was right. Yesterday at the wedding I was asked about Lyme Disease. PS. Before we move on to the Lyme advocacy portion, I would like to make mention of the wedding I attended yesterday.
Yesterday was a monumental day. It was the day where a boy became a man. Like a tick, I attach myself to people. Many many years ago, I attached myself to a friend. This friend and I were friends from the first moment we met. I met her on the first day of a new job. We hit it off right away. Because of our job (we worked in retail), her family would often come into the store to shop. That included her "little" brother Jon.
I mean this in the best possible way, but Jon was the "cockiest" kid I knew. He was good looking and he knew it. Many years later, I saw "little" Jon at an event and this cocky little boy had turned into a cocky young man. I guess instead of saying cocky, I should say charismatic with a twist. I see the family at weddings and funerals. Occasionally when Val comes home from where she lives, I'll hang out with the family at her parent's house. After one such occasion, Val was busy running around and Jon and I had the chance to catch up.
He seemed finally ready to grow up and turn into a man. We talked, a lot. In the end, I told him love would bite him in the rear when he least expected it. It could be in 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 years, but that at some point some woman would walk into his lives and they wouldn't be able to live without each other. I gagged at my own sappiness and he just kept saying, "Yeah right."
Well wouldn't you know it wasn't too much longer when on his FB page there was a status update that said, "Man Down." Then shortly after that ---- his relationship status changed. Folks, this was in August of 2011. Don't you know in October, he proposed to this woman and yesterday they got married in a beautiful chapel.
Now, I have been to many weddings and in that time I have never been to a wedding where the groom was so infatuated with his bride. The pastor and Jon came out from the side room. He looked out and saw his mama and winked at her. I thought, "That is so Jon." He made contact with several people (I'm assuming women ... just because I know how he is) and he winked at them too. As the bridesmaids came down the aisle, the winking continued. And then a friend began to sing "Marry Me" by Train. Jon's bride and future father in law came walking in.
I have never seen a more beautiful bridal gown. She looked confident and on the verge of tears. I looked at Jon and a single tear fell down my cheek. This was the day my little boy friend had turned into a man. From the moment she walked down the aisle, he couldn't keep his eyes off her. During different musical interludes, they were chatty Kathy's with her grinning like the Cheshire cat and him talking back to her. I couldn't be prouder of my little buddy and his new wife.
Now that I've made you all a little teary eyed like I was yesterday ----
Now onto advocacy.
Taken straight from the TBDA website:
"Dynamic, inclusive and passionate, the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance (TBDA) is dedicated to raising awareness, supporting research and promoting advocacy to find a cure for tick-borne diseases, including Lyme.
Mindful of the urgency of this escalating public health crisis, Turn the Corner Foundation, co-founded by Staci Grodin, and the Tick-Borne Disease Initiative, founded by David Roth, decided to consolidate their efforts in the fight for a cure.
In early 2012, they joined forces to form a new, national organization—the TBDA. As part of our efforts to raise funds to support much-needed research, TBDA will embark on a quest to develop a diagnostic tool as a first step toward eradicating the diseases.
Working with others in the tick-borne disease community nationwide, TBDA seeks to raise public awareness through education and create a unified voice for advocacy regarding the current epidemic in order to make a real difference Please join us. By working together, we can help eliminate tick-borne diseases for future generations." (http://tbdalliance.org/about-tbda)
Please visit their website to see Tick Talk Tips. They have 19 tick tips. Read them carefully.
