A part of her you were...and it will be you who will carry her on...

until the end of time.

Winter days were too cold for her and in the summer sun she will sit forever. In your dreams she will look up at you, sitting on the warm sand... and you will wake up remembering her smile.

You will know that she will be with you forever.

It just seems impossible to think of a world without her...and so many were touched by her, that it has become truly impossible to live in a world where she will not continue to go on...

And she will go on...and you will too....hand in hand.

She is with you forever, because you are a part of her and she a part of you....

Dedicated to my best friend in the whole
wide world...Sarah. I love you.

HAPPY!

I'm way too happy! Ian and I leave for Brazil in less than a month!!! I'm so pale (as you can see) I'm looking like a ghost! A tan is needed badly!!!

Girls' Night Out in Lil' Italy!

It was so nice seeing you girlies this past weekend! Janice and Momes, you really just need to move to Toronto!!! Miss you girls!
xox
annie!

Jungle Girl?

Personally, I think this chick has "lost" it. I do not believe she went missing at a young age and now walks and sounds like a monkey in the jungle. What do you think?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6289741.stm

Do You Think Its Wrong To Keep Disabled Girl As an
"Angel?"

Thursday, January 11, 2007
ANDRÉ PICARD, The Globe and Mail

The history of treatment of people with physical, developmental and
psychiatric disabilities is a bleak one, replete with systematic cases of
abuse, both individual and collective.

Because of their perceived shortcomings -- mental retardation, twisted
limbs, behaviours that violate social norms, being a burden on society --
people with disabilities have been ostracized, lobotomized, sterilized,
institutionalized, euthanized and even sent to the gas chambers.

Sadly, in the 21st century, we continue to add new chapters to this age-old
book of horrors.

Consider the case of Ashley X, a nine-year-old girl in Washington State who
suffers from static encephalopathy (severe brain damage of unknown origin).
She cannot walk, talk, roll over, sit up or speak. She essentially lays
where she is placed, usually on a pillow, hence her moniker "pillow angel."

In 2004, Ashley underwent a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and
ovaries), radical mastectomy (removal of the breast buds) and appendectomy,
and she was infused with high doses of estrogen to fuse her bones together
so they would stop growing.

Ashley's parents, a middle-class, college-educated couple, requested these
"growth attenuation" procedures to ensure she remains at her current size,
4 foot 5 and 75 pounds.

Details of the case were published in the medical journal Archives of
Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in October, and then, this month, the
story vaulted into the mainstream press after the parents posted a defence
of their action on a website (http://ashleytreatment.spaces.live.com).

The response has been impassioned, to say the least.

The couple, the girl's principal caregivers, argue (just as they did before
the ethics board that approved the unusual medical experiment) that keeping
Ashley small will facilitate her care and that depriving her of sexual
characteristics will protect her from sexual abuse.

The parents say that what they have done to Ashley is not for their
convenience but for the girl's comfort. They say the medical procedures are
not cruel; rather, "what is grotesque is having a fully grown fertile woman
endowed with the mind of a baby."

There is no question Ashley's parents love her. They care for her deeply,
and want the best for her.

But what they have done is wrong. It is beyond grotesque.

The doctors involved in this butchery should be ashamed of their actions.
They have violated one of the fundamental tenets of the ethical practice of
medicine: Never do deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else's interest.

The surgeries and drugs have no direct benefit to the patient, and that
makes them inappropriate. The sole purpose of growth attenuation is to keep
Ashley portable and cute.

If cutting off the girl's breasts and amputating her uterus and ovaries is
acceptable, why stop there? She is being tube-fed, so why not remove her
teeth? Cutting off her arms and legs would certainly make her easier to
dress. And she is incontinent, so why not replace her colon and bladder
with colostomy and urostomy bags?

A slippery slope? Indeed it is.

The parents say the only reason they have gone public is so other parents
of "pillow angels" can learn of the treatment and follow suit.

What we are seeing here is a glaring manifestation of societal prejudice.
Disabled children are seen as angelic and innocent; sexually functioning
adults with disabilities, on the other hand, are viewed as disgusting and
fearsome.

Is it really true that using hoists and lifts to move people with severe
disabilities is more dehumanizing than carrying them in your arms? Does the
added burden of changing sanitary napkins in addition to continence pads
really justify mutilation? Should not everyone, disabled or not, sexually
mature or not, be protected from sexual abuse?

Ashley takes the bus to school, where she spends a few hours every day.
Like many parents of disabled children, that is the only respite her
parents get from around-the-clock caregiving duties.

Unquestionably, parents and their children (of all ages) need more help,
more support and more understanding. But in Ashley's case, the parents have
corrected what did not need fixing. They have applied an invasive,
ethically dubious medical solution to a pervasive social problem.

The challenge of integrating people with disabilities into society,
affording them the full rights of citizenship they are entitled to, is
ever-present.

Due to advances in medical technology, an increasing number of children
(and adults and seniors) are surviving with incredibly challenging
conditions. Their care must be grounded in ethical decision-making, their
rights protected as vigorously as those of everyone else in society.

The way to deal with children with lifelong behavioural, physical and
psychiatric problems is not to artificially maintain them in a permanent
child-like body. Care, like people themselves, must evolve, grow and adapt.

Children are not bonsai trees to be pruned and reshaped to suit the
limitations or prejudices of their caregivers, or of society in general.

Ashley, like every other child, is entitled to reach her full potential, no
matter how inconvenient that may be to others.

"Godblessamerica"

For those of you who have seen Al Gore's film on global warming, this article may be of interest to you. It is quite disturbing, and as understanding as I try to be towards those religious fundamentalists....the world was NOT LITERALLY CREATED 14, 000 YEARS AGO!!!!!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/299253_inconvenient11.html

Happy New Year 2007

We went up to London to spend New Years with our friends Jorge and Brie. Sue and Frank were great for hosting a potluck dinner for everyone at their place. First time I played a drinking game (I know I'm almost 25...quite sad). Lots of fun though! Thanks again Jorge for letting us stay at your place with you guys..and thanks to Brie for introducing us to some really great people! Happy New Year to everyone! xoxoxo

Current Song...

"Near Fantastica"

Matthew Good

The pink pills are for your sanity
We are buried in the earth because we cant beat gravity
You are still here and so made to figure
You are an important part of the computer

Born of the sea, blink
The sea is dead
Falls out of me these sockets in my head
Everyones a captain baby, ship of fools
Drowning while theyre telling you its been all right

Dream the dream of your attrition
The nameless name of your condition
It will be needing you a little while longer
You are an important part of the computer

After this mission it will let you go
Help you to forget everything and everyone you know
In a wold of captains baby, ship of fools
Dont you know theyre lying when theyre telling you its been all right?

Christmas 2006

Ian and I spent Christmas Eve with my family and some family friends and on Christmas Day we went up to Guelph and spent the day and night with his family! It was a wonderful Christmas...and it was special because it was mine and Ian's first Christmas together in our new apartment...opening gifts on Christmas morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Recent Pictures (Dad's Birthday and Christina's Dinner Party)

Christina's and Jamie's Potluck Birthday Dinner







Dad's 50th Birthday Surprise Party (November 25th, 2006)

My Cousins: Soula (her baby Isabella), Mary, Toula, Cindy, Fred, Tasina, Tom and Paul

Mom and Dad (below)

Its Been 40 Days

I haven't officially quit smoking (because several years later I still consider myself a "non-smoker" or "social smoker"). However, it has been 40 days since I've had a cigarette. I don't even want a cigarette. Its hard living with a smoker because cigarettes are always available for me (yes, I've tried getting Ian to deny me cigarettes). So I'm happy to report that I have not been smoking for 10 full days now and I'm really proud of myself.

I'm not doing this for anyone (except perhaps my future children and my family and friends of course)...but I'm doing this because I feel like a hypocrit when I puff away on a cigarette, yet I count the amount of servings of vegetables I made sure to eat that same day, along with whether I've taken all my vitamins and how many hours of sleep I got the night before, and whether I should go one extra time to the gym this week. Honestly, its all in the way one thinks that can be extremely motivating.

I might as well save my money on fruits and vegetables if I'm going to smoke. Heck, I should cancel my gym membership too, because its not like that cardio machine is going to save my cigarette loving heart. And vitamins? Why worry about taking my omegas and my my special B-complex (along with my multi?) - geez, I could save so much money. I feel foolish worrying about whether my face cream will protect against wrinkles and UV rays, when the cigarettes just suck up all the moisture regardless. Smoking is a choice. Perhaps its easier for me, than it is for others because I never smoke more than one or two cigarettes a day on average. But the bottom line is...I've found that one "thing" that motivates me. I feel dumb worrying about what "good stuff" I can put into my body, when I should focus on keeping the "bad stuff" out.

I'm also going to withdraw from some of those that smoke heavily as well. Its nothing personal of course, but for the first few months I don't want to be in any situations where its hard to say no.

I have to live with the consequence that I may crave a cigarette for the rest of my life, however, I know that I have to take myself further first before risking falling weak to temptation. I believe that the longer one can keep up their goal....the more important it becomes.

My family (dad, my brother Jim, Mom and I) - Fred and Cindy's Wedding

Dad, me and Mom (Fred and Cindy's Wedding)

Annie, baby Isabella and Mary (Fred and Cindy's Wedding)

Ian and Annie at Fred and Cindy's Wedding (Nov. 4th, 2006)

Ian taking part in the "Pig Dance" (Macedonian Tradition) - Fred and Cindy's Wedding

"Pig Dance" (Macedonian Tradition)

The traditional "Pig Dance" (Macedonian) - Fred and Cindy's Wedding

Anna (who caught the bouquet) and Louis (who caught the garter) - Fred and Cindy's Wedding 2006

Tom, Ian, Greg and Jim (outside the church) Fred and Cindy's wedding

Getting ready for the bouquet toss!

Catching the Bouquet (Fred and Cindy's Wedding)

Cousin Tom, Tasina, Cousin Toula, Ian and Anna (Fred and Cindy's Wedding, Nov 4th, 2006)

I Caught the Wedding Bouquet

(Oh Dear!!!)

"We need all the single ladies out on the floor, the bride is about to throw her bouquet"

(then I moan and groan..."ugggg" I say)

Honestly, I don't know why I've never caught the bouquet in the past...I've only been to like a million weddings for goodness sakes!

I don't know whether it was my extra tall high heels I wore Saturday night, or the fact that I'm getting older and older at these weddings that more and more of the single ladies happen to be like 12 and under...but last night I actually caught the bouquet (and my parents probably groaned louder than Ian did).

This weekend was loads of fun. My cousin Fred got married and I can tell he and Cindy (who is fabulous by the way) will be very happy together. Congrats guys!!!

xo

annie!