February 2,; 2003

My Hero

Lying in bed day after day, nothing much is constant, except for the ongoing pain.; No one ever thinks that it will happen, to them anyways.; We are all invincible until it happens to us or someone close to us.; Worse yet, it wasn’t her fault.; She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and although some may argue that she is part of a bigger plan, it is hard to fathom or even imagine for most of us.; Her name is Jewels and at one time she was a typical teenager, enjoying new and exciting experiences in life as an independent individual.; But in a few short seconds that independence was shattered, literally and physicallyAs a result of this ‘accident’ Jewels can no longer walk and lies in constant pain (to read Jewels complete story visit her site at www.jewelsrogers.com).

I have followed Jewels story since almost the beginning.; More than four years ago Jewels' brave and selfless mother, Mary Lou, left an entire life behind to be at her daughter’s side and has never looked back.; Always full of optimism, always a believer in miracles due to her extraordinary faith in God, Mary Lou has found a strength that I don’t think most people ever could.; There are good days and there are more bad days, although both Mary Lou and Jewels always seem to rise above the trying times.; Mary Lou always has the ability to find something positive to focus on in her updates.; Yes, not only does Mary Lou tend to Jewels every need pretty much 24/7, she shares the life that she and Jewels lead with daily updates on a website devoted to Jewels.; It is a poignant and candidly honest site that humbles me every time I visit it.

After several years of ‘pen paling’ with Jewels, I chose to share part of her story with my readers now for this simple reason.Jewels recently made a difficult decision.; She decided that she no longer wanted to try to get better and that she did not want to update her site anymore.; I know that this must have been a very difficult decision for Jewels.; She has been living in constant pain for so long and is tired of struggling.; This was a decision that was difficult for her mom to hear.; Even more difficult I am sure, was honouring Jewels request.; Mary Lou did this with great love and respect for Jewels.

It has been several days since Sunday, January 26 and there have been no updates, until yesterday.; The good news is that many of Jewels supporters; have let her know just how important she is in their lives and Jewels has answered the call.; She has decided to continue focusing on her goals of improvement and wants her readers and friends to be kept up-to-date with her progress.

No longer independent, Jewels is now dependent, dependent on someone else for her every need.; She lives in constant pain.; She is also dependent on you and me for support and as much as her regular followers look forward to reading her site, she waits eagerly for emails, snail mail and telephone messages of encouragement and support.; That being said, take a moment to check out her site and learn a bit more about this beautiful and brave twenty-three old woman who is still fighting the fight with her mother by her side.Feel inspired, feel humbled and learn not to sweat the small stuff.; Jewels certainly doesn’t!

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