I live on the same Kansas farm that I was fortunate enough to grow up on.  This is a view from this evening of a storm moving in from the west.  I grew up like most farm kids as far as I know.  I attended a country school in my elementary years, the school building is still there but is now a church.  I had a great childhood, I loved our farm and being outside, roaming around and following my older sister.

Jr high and high school were also pretty unremarkable for me.  I got good grades and pushed the limits as far as I possibly could and wow was it fun.  I think I skipped more days of school my senior year than I actually attended and some of those hours were spent simply sitting in my car in the high school parking lot smoking cigarettes.

I did not attend college for various reasons, but did have the adventure of a lifetime moving to Phoenix, AZ the summer we were 18 with graduation and a care package from our “other parents”.  We told our parents we were taking a 1 or 2 week vacation to see friends and borrowed her Dads car and took off with no intention of coming home.  The only destination we had in Phoenix were a couple of friends that had already moved there and were living with a band and said we could stay a few days too.

That was a wild and crazy time….two years of my life and a lot of life experience.  I moved back to Kansas then and decided I should get a life.   I had broken up with my boyfriend, was staying at my parents and just lost.  I did find a job, my best friend and I moved out together and life was pretty great.  I missed Phoenix, but I’m just a country girl at heart.  We worked the same hours, partied a lot and went to the lake constantly.

In 1993 I was asked to be a bridesmaid in another best friends wedding and that is where I ended up meeting the love of my life.  We were married a year and a half later and two years after that we had our first child six weeks prematurely.  She was and is perfect.  Two years later a son was born and not quite two more years another son was born.  We added on to our house and life was good, living the American dream!!!!

In 2003 we tragically lost my uncle to complications from an auto accident.  It had already been a difficult year on the farm and due to many factors the family farming operation ceased and we had a farm auction in early 2004.  During this time my middle son had to have two hernia operations, and I had to start looking for employment after 7 years of being a stay at home mom with no real education.

I was blessed to find employment as a medical receptionist and although I was scared, I loved being back to work and being a grown up again..lol!  That spring I had some colds that I felt that I couldn’t shake, sinus infections, bronchitis and just felt kind of crappy.  Blamed it on stress and fatigue of getting used to all the new changes.  Little did I know that this was the beginning of failing health that led me to where I am today….stomachless in Kansas.