fact or fiction.

It is a known fact that dogs take on the personality/characteristics of their owners. If you have known me long enough, it is quite comical thinking of my pet dog "tri-pod". And yes, he came by his name honestly. Leave it to me to have a disabled dog. I still love you, Phoenix.

However, focusing on my two service dogs and how entirely different they are, this fact confuses me. Delsie is intense. Barkley is laid back. Both to a fault. Delsie HATES the vacuum.. She will not be in the same room when I haul it out. Barkley could care less about the loud thing. He won't move when it comes near him. That explains the dog outline on my carpet. Delsie is not a cuddlier. She will tolerate my hugs and kisses. Barkley is a complete lover. He lays on my face. For real. He can't get close enough. Delsie is rather independent. She loves people. Barkley is a dog dog. His goofiness comes out when he is playing with other dogs. It has been a riot discovering these differences. They are complete opposites. What does this say about me?
The other day I was going for a walk with Barkley. He literally froze in his tracks when we passed this statue of Jesus.

I am intrigued by Him, too, Barkley.

For some reason, I have been a bit anxious when I think of living like this 40 more years. I can't do it. Or better said, I don't want to do it. I am different on how I handle this challenge each day that passes. One day, my optimism surprises even me and I am not even phased by this disability. Other days, I am consumed and utterly overwhelmed by the gloom this diagnosis brings to my life. And there are days although few and far between, that I don't give FA a second of my thoughts or worries and I feel relief or free. So yea, I also detect differences in the way I approach life. I am sure that I can emulate a bit of Delsie and Barkley personality. Did I just compare myself to dogs? Oh boy. The morning that I verbalized my angst against FA through tears, a press release came out for a clinical study in Italy. http://curefa.org/_pdf/PressRelease03-15-12.pdf

You can return any day Jesus.
In the mean time, bless those who are fighting for a treatment or cure for FA.