My Friday Favorites: FFO and Smiles

 

Many of you asked about my condition last week.  I was too weak to go into real detail at that time.  It all started when I bought my first house when I was 19 and my grandmother gave me a cast iron skillet.  Let me explain.  

I was entertaining and getting ready to fry chicken in the cast iron skillet.  I picked it up with my left hand, an act I had performed more than a few times before.  Friends watched as the skillet fell from my hand.  It had not slipped.  My hand had no grip.  

For several days, I grappled with stairs because all the bedrooms were upstairs.  The only "facility" downstairs was a "powder room" with a toilet and sink, so I had to go upstairs to bathe as well as sleep. 

I crawled upstairs on all fours and back down the stairs on all fours.  I went to my medical doctor, who was sure I had carpal tunnel.  He took lots of measurements and scheduled a surgery for me.   However, when he opened me up, he saw I had a birth defect that had finally manifested.  I was born with NO CALCIUM around my joints.  He sewed me up and said I would be in a wheel chair within a year.  I remember asking how this could happen since I used milk in my coffee and ate tons of cheese.  He asked what I could eat or drink to grow a finger if I was born with only four fingers on one hand.  It suddenly hit me how serious my condition really was.

Do you believe in "mind over matter?"  I'm a scientist and that was not something I would automatically believe in.  However, one day I woke and said "I'm not going to live like this any longer" or words to that effect.  I forced myself to ignore the pain and started living again.  Granted, it was difficult at first, but eventually I got my life back.  However, about once every decade my body shuts down again.  I can't control it.  I just have to let it pass.  I'm in that period right now, so I'm not posting as much as I normally do.  I assure you, it will eventually pass.  I just have to let my body take its course.

Shooting photos from a window has its draw back.  I had to severely crop the photo.  I believe these are frogs.  Since they have faces, these are for Nicole and her Friday Face Off.  These metal sculptures are on a busy highway leading to our zoo.

Not sure if these are chimps or gorillas, but they have faces and that is what counts.

Our zoo has lots of flamingos, so these made me smile.  And they have faces, too.

Now for a few funnies.  How about laundry day!!

I hope you found a face you liked and a smile to make you happy.  Thanks for dropping by tonight (and tomorrow).  Please join Bleubeard and me at Friday Face Off and Friday Smiles.