In a message dated 8/3/2001 11:08:11 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Another question I would like to ask....how does one come to terms with
 the lost years?
  >>

The closest I have been able to come to this, is to get involved in the
Thyroid Wars, revel in the victories of those who get well, and keep fighting
for those who need help.

Offhandedly, I confided in a minister who I work with that I seem to do best
with the things that I have survived. I wasn't sure if that is why all those
horrible things happened, or if it was just a chaotic universe and I was
making lemonade out of lemons that I was given. Either way, it was difficult
to deal with.

I'm not sure if I was looking for help, or just being a bit more cynical than
usual.

He said, "For me, God either blesses or Redeems. If it is a blessing, I just
enjoy it knowing that it was intended to be that. If it is painful, I have
some consolation in knowing that someday, in someway, it will do me or
someone else in the world some good."

That may have been the most profound thing anyone has ever said to me. It
doesn't make everything a rose garden, just a bit easier to deal with.

Doc Don

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