Last weekend, my sister, OZL, and I flew to Pennsylvania for our cousin's wedding near Pittsburgh. Since we would be taking an almost three hour flight east, we decided to fly in a day early so that we could drive to Ohio to visit our cousins on the other side of the family. In particular, we wanted to see our cousin and her daughter, who is nicknamed Little Miss.
Little Miss was adopted into our family from Korea and is now five years old. She is a lively, inquisitive, beautiful little girl. I am so very happy to have her in our family and so grateful that we got to spend some time with her. She was very interested in "the baby" and it was really fun (and highly adorable) to watch them play together.
But Little Miss also faces some challenges, as she has been diagnosed with autism and epilepsy, among other things. Her mom (my cousin) is the ultimate Super Mom. She is constantly battling to get Little Miss the therapies, services, and support that she needs to thrive. She juggles appointments with doctors and specialists and therapists while simultaneously battling the school district to get Little Miss everything she needs in her IEP. She researches and learns everything she can about Little Miss' multiple diagnoses so that she can constantly interact and teach and help Little Miss grow and learn. And somehow my cousin still finds time to blog about her experiences and support the special needs parenting community. (Her blog: Beyond The Dryer Vent).
My cousin also has RA.
On top of everything that she has to do to give Little Miss the best life possible, my cousin also deals with RA herself. Honestly, I don't know how she does it. Moms are totally amazing that way.
Most people probably don't realize that there are actually a lot of moms out there who are dealing with arthritis while also doing a million other things that are necessary to take care of their kids. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States, but more than half of the people who suffer from arthritis are women. The statistic is even higher for RA, as seventy percent of the people with RA are women. But these women, many of them mothers, manage to do amazing things despite their arthritis.
Many of these women also find resources, support, and community through the Arthritis Foundation, which works tirelessly to towards finding ways to prevent, control, and hopefully cure arthritis and related conditions. Through fundraisers, they support research projects, promote arthritis advocacy, and develop strategies to make arthritis a priority in health care and other areas.
A major fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation is coming up on June 20 in Washington DC. The Second Annual Purses With Power event will be a "Girls Night Out" where attendees can network, socialize, and shop while supporting the Arthritis Foundation and spreading awareness. The evening will feature cocktails and light refreshments, a silent auction, entertainment, music, giveaways, and other fun festivities. If you are in the Metro DC area (or know people who are!) please check it out (or pass along the information!). Help support the amazing women (like my cousin!) who are living with arthritis!
The 2013 Purses With Power Auction & Social
Thursday, June 20, 2013
6:30 - 9:30
Haworth Showroom, Second Floor
575 7th Street, NW
Washington DC, 20004
Follow @PowerPursesDC on Twitter
5 comments:
Thank you so much for sharing yours and your cousin's story so that all of us can gain more awareness as it relates to arthritis. And thank you for your cousin and all she does as a mom and for Little Miss. You all truly put the "super" in Super Mom!
We can only create awareness by sharing. I commend you creating this blog to discuss living with RA. I wish you a lifetime of painfree days.
I seriously thought this post was gonna be about purses with power in them for flights. I like it all the same... but the tech geek in me is a smidge diappointed. ;-)
ssIt's obvious by this post that your cousin is in a supportive family.
If any of your readers are interested in attending, I have a giveaway for a ticket at http://rheumfuloftips.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/455-arthritis-ladies-night-and-a-giveaway/.
Enjoy an evening that is sure to delight, support and educate.
OOps... now I see this. I am now convinced the Networked Blogs hates me. Why does this stuff never show up in my feed?
(Thanks for the "ultimate supermom" award... but I think I'm doing just about the same you would -- as a matter of fact, seeing you with OZL, I KNOW I'm doing the same thing you would) XOXO
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