Yep. Seems we have much in common. Humor was my ticket to sanity. Though my poor husband almost drove me out of my mind (severe, unemployable, 100% disabling PTSD) it was him and his amazing sense of humor that kept me from going over the edge. My whole family lived life on a rollercoaster, under unrelenting stress, but by the grace of God, we laughed more than cried, played as much as we worked, learned to surmount the unsurmountable, managed to produce artists, professional musicians and singers, tenors-baritones-sopranos, builders, Web designers, an engineer, and successful small business owners. They are now loving parents, homeschooling their own, moral, upstanding members of humanity. Just cant make that happen. Not smart enough or virtuous enough.

So yeah, life has been full of crushing disappointments, as you well know, having lost a child. Me too. Bodies betraying us at every turn. Financial difficulties, failures galore, yet, despite all odds, we all pulled through and thrived. Again, no special skills, no higher education, nothing special. Absolutely nothing. Extra love and commitment, possibly. Maybe not.

Not the smartest here, but attitude, resourcefullness, and dogged determination, not to mention FAITH covered our inadequacies, mistakes made, and less than stellar lifestyle. RA...yes. Stroke...yes. Fibromyalgia...yep. Heart attack, stroke for hubby. Trigeminal neuralgia, and thoracic outlet syndrome. It's like having a handful of misc. health issues thrown at us, and yet we're still here, still living life, still laughing, still loving. You just can not give up. Keep pushing on. There is light at the end of the tunnel.