Good Morning All & Happy Friday to all you “T.G.I.F. Fan Club Members” out there!
We came home early from The Tana House yesterday, as little miss Tempa started to experience a series of seizures, something that we knew could start happening with NKH, but weren’t really prepared for it, as Tempa was going along well with no seizures up to this point. They are short seizures in duration 30 seconds to a minute for most of them, but they occur with some frequency (five to eight each day, it seems). Tempa’s eyes flutter and she clenches her fists during each seizure. Jake & Sarah have been in touch with the neurologists and are trying to determine what can be done to help little miss Tempa. Seattle Children’s Hospital suggested another type of medication and we’re hopeful that prescription gets filled in the next few days. Please be praying that the seizures dissipate for little miss Tempa. It’s hard to navigate uncharted waters, as is the case right now, given the rare metabolic condition that Tempa is enduring. Please also pray for peace and strength for Tempa’s parents, Jake & Sarah. They are doing such a marvelous job of caring for little miss Tempa and their family. I couldn’t be prouder of them. Please pray for good rest for both of them in the days ahead, as caring for Tempa makes it difficult to get a complete night’s rest. We’re still fervently praying for a “Lazarus type miracle” for little miss Tempa!
Thinking of the terrific job that Jake & Sarah are doing as parents to little miss Tempa and her big brother Izaak, the word “stalwart” comes to mind. It’s a mid-14th century English word meaning “Loyal, reliable and hardworking”…”Strongly built and sturdy.” Jake & Sarah are indeed “stalwart” parents…loving and caring for little miss Tempa in a reliable and hardworking way.
Speaking of little miss Tempa’s medical condition, referred to as “NKH,” we received a wonderful note via e-mail from the folks in Great Britain (United Kingdom) that started “Joseph’s Goal,” the foundation that is raising money to fund research into NKH. Here’s some excerpts from that e-mail:
“Welcome to the Joseph’s Goal family of NKH fundraisers…All current funds are channeled to NKH Research under the directio nof Professor Nick Greene at University College London, one of the leading experts in the field of Developmental Neurology and, in particular, NKH. Professor Greene publicly acknowledged last year that donations from Joseph’s Goal had advanced his research by 18 months and 3 published research papers in the last 12 months. The Charity (Joseph’s Goal) has so far raised 850,000 pounds (approx. $1.5 million+) for research into NKH!! In the early years this was very much a solo Kendrick family and friends initiative but in the last few years a few NKH families have also committed to fundraising. So your donations are greatly appreciated as all NKH families are likely to benefit from the research developments—and as I continue to state—Joseph’s Goal—which is to find a cure for NKH—should be all NKH families’ goal…
Cheers—Alan (Alan Houghton, Chairman & Treasurer, “Joseph’s Goal”)
If you’re interested in finding out more about “Joseph’s Goal” and the effort to find effective treatments and a cure for NKH, please visit www.josephsgoal.org.
Speaking of momentous efforts, I came across some more of my Dad’s account of his World War II experiences. Here’s another excerpt from the oral interview he did as part of the Washington State World War II Memorial Oral History Project…
Question: “That was Iwo?”
Answer: “…And you’re living on a troop transport, and I can’t remember it was—but I believe they were six feet high, they—the bunks. I mean they were canvas slings, if you will, in there, attached to the bulkhead and they were attached to piping. And so the guy above you, you only had about six inches of—of raising your head room and of course his fanny was right down there and it was a little tough if he passed a lot of gas, that was a tough one. And if you wanted to take a shower, what I learned is that you get up, maybe sometime, from 2 o’clock in the morning to maybe 3 or 4 and take your shower because in the morning you can’t even get in there. Because there isn’t enough room. And so you do all your toiletries you can in the middle of the night, then you go back to bed. And you sweat. It was hot in those holds and one thing I have never figured out, quite. They didn’t want us to throw anything overboard ship, you know, if anything, because, of course, they’re afraid of trailing subs, Japanese submarines would pick up the trail if you’re throwing, and they did throw garbage over, but I know they threw it in some kind of a container, and I don’t know if those were drums that sank or they were cloth bags or—you know I thought about this once before and I still don’t know. And now I’m chastening myself because I didn’t go find out, you know the old story is if you don’t know, that’s fine, you’re just ignorant. When you know you don’t know and don’t find out, the next time around, you’re stupid…I think is a pretty good explanation right now, I’m stupid about that. And—but I don’t know what they did but they din’t want anything to leave in the wake that they could define they’re trailing a convoy or another ship, you know. So apparently they didn’t find any because they didn’t attack us. But we were out there for 40 days aboard these troop (inaudible). And we stopped at Saipan—were supposed to make a dummy run for the beach. That was after Saipan was invaded and secured. Sort of a dress rehearsal run of how it was going to—and the—they had a little storm and (laughs) and the waves were high, high and they finally they just cancelled it all. We never did go aboard—go ashore to Saipan. We went in a ways then turned around and came back. Got aboard ship again…” (more excerpts to follow in future “Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a”).
Here’s to friends P.J., consulting nurse and educational director for the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association; and Rod, stalwart manager involved with operations of Second Harvest Food Bank and other food bank networks in our region…both celebrated their birthday yesterday, May 13th! Cheers to you two! And a great big Happy Birthday to my son-in-law Joel’s sister-in-law, Karin…wife, mother and educator/teacher extraordinaire, who celebrates here birthday tomorrow, May 15th! Here’s to you, Karin…have fun and eat lots of cake!
Here’s the trivia question for the day:
Q: The oldest person that ever lived had a lifespan of how many years…110?…117?…120?…or 122?
A: According to Guinness World Records, the oldest fully authenticated age to which any human has ever lived is 122 years and 164 days by Jeanne Louise Calment. Jeanne was born in France on February 21, 1875, 14 years before the Eiffel Tower was constructed. She remained in fine health for the majority of her life—she even took up fencing at the tender age of 85, and continued to ride her bicycle into her 100s. She claimed that her secret to long life was olive oil, port and chocolate; she gave up smoking at the age of 117. She remained clear thinking right up to the day she passed away on August 4, 1997.
Here’s a tip for all of you cigar lovers out there…I was doing some yardwork for family members the other day and wanted to enjoy a cigar while I was working (probably not the best health move in the world!), so I ventured out to “Cigar Train” in north Spokane and met a very nice fellow by the name of Greg Graham, one of the shop’s owners. They have an extensive collection of cigars of all shapes, sizes and flavors. I found a satisfying cigar for around $7.00…it made the yardwork a more pleasurable experience, for sure! Check out “Cigar Train” and tell ’em Mark sent you…that should be good for a free book of matches!…They are located at 1010 W. Rosewood Ave. in Spokane…their web site is www.cigarsinspokane.com. Let me know what you think!
Here’s the thought for the day:
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk…In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”
—Mark Zuckerberg, founder of “Facebook”, whose 37th birthday is today (May 14th)…Wow!…he’s only 37????
Here’s to a great Friday and sunshine filled weekend and lots of love & good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)