This is a time line of the last 23 years, to help put the stories posted into perspective.
I met my husband, Mark, in February of 1989. I had been married for ten years, before that, and had three kids, Christina, Joe and Elizabeth. Mark had two kids, Melody and Nick. Nick was just a baby when I met Mark, Elizabeth was five, Joe was seven and Christina was Nine. Mark and I got very close, very fast. We met in February and moved into our first apartment in June. We had a turbulent first year, then I gave my life to Jesus and Mark re-committed.
1990-1994, Mark and I had a sign business. We had quite a bit of work but we struggled financially. We had our kids every weekend, and every other week in the summer. We all attended a Church in Downey. Mark and I were very involved in that Church. Mark played on the worship team, I had a prayer line and we were both on the board.
1994, I gave birth to Elijah. During that year, Mark suffered with bad headaches and leg swelling. He was tired all of the time. Our sign business started doing very well, we just had a hard time getting the work done, between the baby and Mark being sick.
In November of 1994, I found out that I was pregnant, again, and within a week, Mark found out he had hepatitis c. He also had very high cholosterol, and his blood pressure was very high. He began taking a large amount of medications for his health problems.
1995, Michael was born. We had to quit the sign business because Mark was just too sick to do it anymore. We both got on SSI.
All my life I suffered with depression and anxiety and in 1999, I started taking medication for it. I tried many different kinds and finally got on something that helped, somewhat.
2000, we moved from Anaheim to Buena Park, where we now live. Eliabeth moved in with us. Except for kindergarten, the boys grew up and went to school here. Nick also moved in for a couple of years.
2006, Mark had open heart surgery, and while in the hospital, his kidneys failed. He was in the hospital for a whole month. When he got out, he had to have dialysis three times a week. After about a year on hemo dialysis, he went on to peritoneal dialysis, and I did this at home for him.
2008, My dad died. It was a hard time for me. Mark was in and out of the hospital a lot. Mark got a bad infection in his peritoneal, after having surgery to remove his gallbladder. We took classes and I learned how to do hemo dialysis for Mark, and I did that for six months. It was very difficult and I couldn't continue, so he went back into the center for his dialysis, He still goes to dialysis three times a week.
We have had a rocky time of it, we have also been very blessed. as you will see if you read my stories.
Just like you told me, Mom, all your struggles are because God loves you! You know, for a long time I was really angry about the hard times I have gone through. I felt every possible hardship that someone goes through got thrown right in front of me! I was so mad and hated my life because I felt like it just wasn't fair! Most people go through only one big hardship in their lives but I was getting hit with everything! Then I started realizing that I was able to help others through their tough times because I had gone through it myself as well! I was noticing that I had become someone that people came to when they were struggling, and I could help them! It took a long time for me to accept that I have absolutely no talent, until I saw that this is my talent! I would much rather be able to make others feel better and help them to find a reason to smile and be positive again than play an instrument or draw a nice picture. I think any time that any person can help another through a tough time it heals the soul! We were just blessed enough that we can understand and help a few extra people in our lives!
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