The Words Beneath My Fingertips

It is about 12:30 am, and I am sitting here on my bed with my cats eyeing me from my doorway because they have not been fed a small bedtime snack. My parents are in the other room resting from a long day. My graduation gown and hood are hanging up- ready for tomorrow. I cannot believe I am graduating with my Master's degree! I want to talk about my tumultuous journey, but first I have people to thank. So many people to thank: My husband for being my backbone, and every now and then paper editor My family who was always there for me My professors and boss who wrote my recommendation letters My friends who helped me revise my personal statement when they were already busy with their lives My primary care doctor who helped me manage my pain and took care of me well- I would not have finished my program without her My pain team for being on top of everything and keeping me sane My current boss for being an AMAZING MENTOR My friends who always cheered me on!!! and encouraged me...

My best friend/sister-from-another-mister, Liz, ran, for the second year in a row, on behalf of me in the CTF Cupid's Undie Run in DC. She raised almost $1,300 for NF research!   This was her last year, in mid run: She flew us down to DC so we could see her run this year <3   I wanted to get her crossing the finish line- it was all sort of confusing and fast. And I failed.  But this was her with "Teddy Roosevelt" And with me and me again! A lot of tourists took this photo too. We're pretty famous now. We are going to run with her next year! (yes, that means John, too!) I thought I took a video of the entire start of the race, but I never hit 'record'. I only have the last 11 seconds of it. Double fail. So the first part of the video is the last 11 seconds of the start of the race, and then a few seconds of the commotion AFTER the race: And so everybody knows: Liz is one of the most beautiful and generous people I ...