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Amanda WhitemanProfessor HarrisonEnglish 20230 April 2010Living with MG: A story of a daughterIntroductionApproximately 20 out of 100,000 Americans have been diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis although it is believed that Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is under diagnosed. Myasthenia Gravis is a neuromuscular disorder, and which means “grave muscle weakness.” The people that are affected by MG suffer from one droopy eyelid, have a hard time swallowing food and drinks, have a hard time chewing, slurred speech, muscle fatigue, difficulty breathing, and weakness in arms and legs. My dad has all or most of those symptoms. He can’t lift over about 50 pounds and he had to quit his job because he worked in a wood factory. Before he was diagnosed, he worked mainly from 2pm to midnight. When he got home from work, I would be sleeping and when he woke up for work, I would be at school. Therefore, I didn’t really know my dad in elementary and middle school because of his work schedule. I wasn’t close to my dad growing up and that really affected our relationship. I admit that I was kind of afraid to be around my dad during those years. Then, when he was diagnosed with MG in January 2005, our relationship changed. He was now at home 24/7 and it took a while for me along with my mom to get used to my dad being home that much. In these past five years, my relationship with my dad has changed greatly, mainly for the better, but I am still a little distant. The only time I saw him were on the weekends and holidays. This led me to the question how does Myasthenia Gravis affect the parent-child relationship? I was led to this question because of the relationship I have with my father. For us, it worked for the better, but for some, it may not have.Literature ReviewAn article called Myasthenia Gravis talks about the signs, symptoms, and treatments of Myasthenia Gravis (MG). It is really helpful to me because and it directly talks about his disease and nothing else, unlike most articles. It starts off with a question, then relatable statement, and then it goes into how the doctor wants to run tests for MG. It says what MG is in detail; including the signs and symptoms that most people have then goes into the tests, which includes blood test and a neurological exam, but an electromyogram (EMG) could be done to diagnose the disease. In rare occasions, a less commonly used test could be done. The doctor would inject edrophonium (Tensilon) to see if the muscle strength improves. The article continues on to say the treatments, which includes medicines, thymectomy, Plasmapheresi, and Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIC). The article ends with the prognosis, which is normally good, meaning that the person won’t die from it and won’t lose muscle mass.Ankylosing Spondylitis: Inflammatory Arthritis of the Spine with Strong Genetic Component, another article, was very helpful because my mom has spondylitis and has had two back surgeries for it. The article looks at the swelling of the joints in the spine as a result of genetic aspects of a person. Data related to the issue of the commonness of ankylosing spondylitis and related diseases known as spondyloarthritis (SpA) show that they concern males frequently than the females. It is inferred that the disorder can be detected early on if there are identification of genes and photographic images of joints in the spinal column that comprises the pelvis and hip bone. Various methods of administering the treatment of the disease are published.Effects of Father’s Education on their Emotional Relationship with Children was very helpful because it explains that young children rely on their father for emotional support while growing up because he is the “head of the household.” “Children believe fathers as a symbol of dominancy and supporter of family. Since fathers act as a moderator between outside world and family, importance role of fathers in formation of moral preciousness and child merit is undeniable. Hereof for fathers, personality, education, stance, job and etc. are parameters influence on children’s future behavior.” I found this really interesting because I didn’t have that much interaction with my dad growing up and this affects me because I will be looking at the relationship between father and child for my book. It goes on to explain other information that was not relevant to my research.Spondyloarthritis was a partially useful article because it somewhat helps me understand my mom’s disease a little better. It mostly talks about different studies that were conducted by assortment of doctors and hospitals. It talks about the treatments that helped, when this disease usually appears in people, what age it usually appears et cetra. MethodsThe methodology I used is my personal experiences and the experiences of my parents to tell a story. I plan to show how a disease can change a relationship and change lives of the people around that person. I plan to keep the real people’s identities a secret by altering the names of their characters. Only I, the researcher and the actual people, will know who their character is. My mom said she doesn’t care if I keep or leave her name, but I changed it therefore I’m going to keep her character a secret as well.The story’s main character has a father that has Myasthenia Gravis and the story shows how a family copes with one sick parent, then with two sick adults in the house. Also, the story will show how the family copes with only having a few hundred dollars a month to pay all the bills and yet have money for food. The reader follows the main character throughout her life as a teenager, and then as a young adult with a sick parent.I used the article called Myasthenia Gravis that I found to help me with the proper terms for the treatments and tests that are associated with MG. It was published in the Mayo Health Clinic Letter in 2007 and it does not state who the author is.Living with MG: A story of a daughterThe Owl family was ending their family vacation in Virginia at the end of July 2004. The family of four went to Busch Gardens, Water Country USA, and Colonial Williamsburg for a week. They went to The Olive Garden for dinner. “Todd chew your food properly or I’m not taking you out to eat again”, yelled Erin Owl at her husband. “I’m having a hard time chewing my food, I’m trying to chew properly”, Todd snapped back. Marie, Todd’s sister, and Lorelai, Todd and Erin’s daughter, were sitting there listening to the couple and eating. Once they got back from their vacation, Todd worked at the Bradford Forrest Product company, the three adults went back to work and Lorelai started band camp for the high school marching band. Todd was working on the line at Bradford Forrest Product when he collapsed. His co-workers called 911 and they took him to the hospital for tests. According to the doctors Todd had a stroke and they sent him home. Over the next month he continually went back to the ER at the Bradford Regional Medical Center, each time the diagnosis was different. They told him it was a pulled muscle, a stroke, etc. They kept running tests over the next few months. In January of 2005 he was sent to a hospital for men in Buffalo, NY. They diagnosed him with Myasthenia Gravis and said that he should quit his job. He then quit his job at Bradford Forrest Product. The doctors explained what Myasthenia Gravis. “Myasthenia Gravis is a neuromuscular disorder. It affects the nerves and muscles. It makes it difficult for the people that have it to do everyday things”, explained Doctor John Bennett softly and sadly. Todd was put on medicines to help him. His family was shocked but happy that they knew what was wrong. The family was having a fine time that year. Lorelai had finished her freshmen year of high school, Marie had a job that she really liked and had been working at for a few months now. They lost some income because of Todd quitting his job, but other than that they were fine. In June, Erin had noticed something different about Marie. “Lorelai, I think your aunt has gained some weight. I don’t want to tell her because I don’t want to get her worried”, Erin mentioned to Lorelai. “Marie let’s go to the doctor; I don’t want you to get worried.” When they got back Lorelai asked “Well what did the doctor say?”“Well, they are running tests and the results will be back in a couple days”, said Erin. A couple days later, the tests came back. Erin and Marie went back to the doctors to see what the tests said. “Marie you have ovarian cancer”, said Doctor Carkin not wanting to tell Marie the results. “We need to do a hysterectomy then we’ll start you on chemotherapy as soon as possible after the surgery. It may be best if you take a medical leave from work.” “When will I start chemotherapy?” asked Marie. “We’ll start you after the surgery when you’re healed from it and strong enough for it, ok?” stated Dr. Carkin to Marie. “Yeah that’s fine with me” replied Marie in a really sad and disappointed tone about the news she had just gotten from her doctor. Marie took a medical leave from her job hoping that once chemotherapy was done that she could go back to work. So, the next week she started on chemotherapy. Over the next few months, Marie and Todd went to doctor appointments. Lorelai helped as much as she possibly could to make her parents and Marie’s life easier. Lorelai helped her parents and aunt by doing errands for them and chores around the house.In August, Lorelai went to band camp and tried to be a normal high school sophomore. She didn’t talk about her aunt and dad’s problems very much at school. Lorelai was in marching band, percussion ensemble, and mixed chorus at the high school, and was also part of the drama club along with swimming during the winter. She didn’t go out with friends because her family had one working member and that was barely enough to live on for them. She was also active in the youth group at the Methodist church her family attended. Everything was as close to normal for the next couple months; no one was in the hospital and Lorelai was doing well in school. In November, Marie was hospitalized at BRMC for her cancer. They moved her to the Magee Women’s hospital in Pittsburgh. She was there for the week of Thanksgiving. “Hi Marie, how are you feeling? Did you get any turkey today?” Asked Erin when she called Marie on Thanksgiving. “I’m feeling ok. That’s all they’ve been feeding me; I’m tired of it”, replied Marie. “Oh well happy Thanksgiving, we all love you and miss you. Have your heard anything from the doctors?” Erin asked. “Thank you, Happy Thanksgiving to you guys, I love you and miss you all too”, replied Marie. “When do you think you can come home? Did the doctor tell you?”Erin was wondering. “No, he hasn’t told me” said Marie. “I’m really tired, I’m going to go, love you guys.” Erin responded, “We love you too.” Erin turned towards the rest of the family, “She doesn’t know when she’s coming home, but she thinks soon.” Lorelai and Todd both responded with, “That’s good that she thinks she’s coming home soon.” A few days later, Marie called and said she was coming home. The night before Marie was coming home, Erin tried getting some sleep and couldn’t. She headed to Pittsburgh at 2A.M. She got there around 5A.M. and got some coffee then called her mom and daughter telling them that she was already in Pittsburgh. Around 6A.M. or 7A.M. she called Marie, “Hi Marie, I’m here, I’m downstairs”, she said, and then hung up. The doctor came into the room after Erin called Marie. “Good morning, Marie. How are you feeling?” asked Doctor Murphy. “I’m feeling fine, doctor. My ride is here, can I leave now?” “Sure, you can leave now Marie, have a safe trip home”, responded Doctor Murphy. Erin and Marie headed back home. When they got home Lorelai was so excited but Marie wasn’t quite herself. Marie was very tired and just not feeling that well. Then everyone was home for Christmas and on Christmas day there was a knock on the door. It was friends from the Methodist church that the family attended. There were 6 people who brought 30 gifts for the whole family and there Christmas dinner. “Merry Christmas” said Biff Johnson along with a few others very excitedly and happily. “We wanted to make this a good Christmas”, said Tom Roft. After the family said thank you and hugged everyone, they all left for the Owl family to enjoy the rest of their Christmas. That Christmas, Erin applied for the E.L.F. fund Christmas benefits, which is when the family gets presents from local people. Zippo Lighters factory took on the Owl family to provide gifts for the family along with Christmas dinner but the presents and dinner were not very good. The family had a great Christmas, what made it even more special was that they had no clue that the friends from the church were going to bring them presents.The day after Christmas, Marie went into the hospital. They kept her at Bradford Regional Medical Center. Erin was there as much as she possibly could. Lorelai went sometimes but mostly stayed at home with her dad. A couple weeks passed and it was New Year’s Eve. Lorelai did First Night, first night is held every December 31 of each year and there are activities throughout Bradford to celebrate the New Year, activities like swimming, bowling, listening to local people sing, and many talented people with her mom and friends. Then the next day Marie was moved into the Nursing Pavilion at the hospital. Then her birthday came, January 2nd. “Hi Marie how are you feeling?” asked doctor Scherrep. “I’m doing ok. I just want a milkshake”, she replied. “Well then, you hear the young lady”, said doctor Scherrep, “get her a milkshake.” Marie replied, “Thank you doctor Scherrep.” Later that day Erin called. “Hi Marie, happy birthday” she said. “Thank you, I wanted a milkshake and Doctor Scherrep let me have one” said Marie. “That’s really good, how are you feeling today?” she asked. “I’m feeling a little better now that I have a milkshake, I’m really tired, I’m going to go” Marie said. “Oh ok, get some rest. We love you”, Erin replied. “Love you too, bye”, said Marie as she hung up. Marie was feeling up and down the next couple of days. At 2:45a.m. on January 3rd, 2006 Marie Owl passed away. The nurse told the Owl family that when she walked past the room, Marie was fine, but when she walked past one minute later, she was gone. That same day, Marie’s disability results came back. She was approved for the money but the Owls never saw a dime of it. The check was sent to Marie’s mother and she didn’t give them any even though they saw her go through the chemotherapy along with being there for her. A couple weeks later, Erin, Todd and Lorelai had a memorial service for Marie with her friends and family from Erin’s side because her mother and siblings couldn’t wait to hold the service Marie’s way. Erin planned out the service with Marie before she passed on. Lorelai continued going to school and doing her activities, Erin continued working and Todd continued on having his doctor appointments. With only one income in the household, the Owls were having a hard time supporting themselves. Sometimes it came down to which bill was a shut off notice to decide which ones would be paid. Lorelai was still getting used to having her dad home because he used to work nights and they never saw each other during the week while school was in session.“Mom, I’m going for a walk with Sarah”, said Lorelai to her mom, Sarah was the family pet, a German Sheppard mixed with collie dog.“Ok dear, have fun”, replied her mother. “Lorelai where you going?” asked her father. “Out, I’ll be back”, she told her dad as she left with the dog for a walk. An hour later she returned tired. “We’re back”, she said as she let Sarah off the leash before she could run into the house. “Did you have a good walk?” asked her dad. “Yep we did, I saw some people I knew. I took her out the trail at Pitt”, she replied. “Oh, that sounds fun”, he said as Lorelai headed up to her room to rest. She heard someone yelling her name; she went to her parent’s room because she thought it was her mother.“Mom, you called?” she asked as entered the room. “Yes dear, I want you to tell your dad where you’re going. Just be nice and tell him, I know you don’t like to, but it would be nice to just let him know. I’m having a hard time adjusting to him being home, as well”, replied her mom. “Ok, I’ll try to let him know for now on”, she said as she went back to her room. After that night, Lorelai tried telling her dad where she was going. It was really hard for her to do that because she was used to asking her mom if she could go places. That spring, Lorelai joined the softball team and got into the drama play. The play that the drama classes were doing was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Lorelai got the part as an Oompa Loompa. She was very excited but she skipped play rehearsal for softball practice one night. “Lorelai where were you yesterday?” asked her best friend Deanna Skippy. Deanna was in the play with her as an Oompa Loompa as well. “Mrs. Hope said if you miss one more practice that you will be kicked out of the play”, explained Deanna. “Well I’m sorry, I had softball practice to go to”, she explained back. “Well they’re mad because you didn’t show up and you didn’t give them a reason as to why you weren’t here”, she said, trying to help her friend. As rehearsals went on, the girls that were Oompa Loompas learned the dance routines, discovered the costumes they were going to wear, brought in jeans for the costumes, and perfected the dance routines. Lorelai was only able to make it to practices for the softball team because every game was during a rehearsal for the play and she was afraid to miss another rehearsal. Then time came for the show to open. Lorelai and the rest of the cast were very nervous about the opening of the show. Everyone chuckled at the look of the Oompa Loompa’s because their faces were yellow, with rosy red cheeks, bright red lipstick and really blue eyes for the makeup. Then the actual costumes were a solid color shirt, like for Lorelai, her color was purple. Her shirt was purple, and the jeans were cut off around the knees with purple colored fabric sewed onto where they were cut off. The girls all had fuzzy hats, scarves and kid sunglasses. Lorelai was very proud of what she had accomplished with that show.Then suddenly summer was here. Lorelai was very bored during summers because she was now too old to go to summer camps as she did in the past. This summer she was excited because in July she was going on a mission trip to Red Bird Mission in Kentucky for a week with her church. She went on a mission trip the summer before that, however, it was only a 3 work day mission because Tom Roft and his wife Kate wanted to introduce the idea of mission trips to the youth plus this was open to the whole church and not just the youth group. She was getting prepared for the trip and she was supposed to read two novels for English but she had time to read only one over the summer. Then July was here, the trip was approaching. She was headed to the middle of nowhere Kentucky to help with home improvement at the small community of Red Bird Mission. Lorelai ended up painting the inside of one house with 5 or 6 ladies from the church. They had fun with this and Lorelai learned how to paint even more. Wednesday came around and the people got the day off to explore Kentucky. They went to a Sonic and the original KFC. Lorelai managed to call her mom to check in. They also went to a small water park where everyone went down this one slide because it was really fun. Lorelai made friends that were from Iowa and other places in the United States. Then the week came to an end. On the trip home Lorelai finished her book for English. When she got home it was time for band camp once again. Band camp lasted for most of August.School was around the corner. Lorelai was still helping her parents as much as she could. Helping her parents included taking the money to pay the bills, taking her dad to his appointments, picking up his medicines, and doing the grocery shopping once in a while. This was also the year that the band was going to Walt Disney World for the magic music days and the trip to France that her schools French club was going. Her mom found a way for her to go to both. “Hi Erin”, said Mrs. Figurel. A friend of the family and also part of the band boosters. “Hi Mrs. Figurel”, said Erin. “Don’t worry about Lorelai going to Disney; we’ll make sure she goes. We’ll help as much as we can”, said Mrs. Figurel. “Thank you very much, we appreciate it”, replied Erin to Mrs. Figurel. “You’re welcome. My husband and I know how much this means to your daughter along with you and your husband”, Mrs. Figurel replied. “Have a nice day, tell Lorelai we said hi”, Mrs. Figurel said as she started to walk away to do her shopping. “Have a nice day yourself and I’ll tell her you said hi”, Erin replied back as she started to look around the store. Erin finished up her shopping and headed home. “Hi honey, I’m home; could you please come help me bring in the groceries?” Erin said entering the house. “Hi mom, of course, I would be happy to help”, Lorelai said as she started to bring in the groceries with the help of her father. “I saw Mrs. Figurel at the store today”, mentioned Erin as she entered the kitchen. “Did you? What did she have to say”, asked Lorelai out of curiosity. “Yes, I did, she said that we don’t have to worry about paying for your Disney trip that they will make sure you will go”, Erin told her excitedly. “Really? That is really nice of her”, Lorelai said as her mother went up stairs to lie down.The next few months, Lorelai and her parents sold fruit, candy bars and fudge to help pay for the trip because the money could be taken out of Lorelai’s band account. She also transferred money out of her choral account to also pay for the trip because Lorelai was able to join the choir that was going down to Disney with the band. This was the first year that they had done this. They prepared five pieces, one Italian and the rest in English. The songs were fun to sing but the one song, “You Raise Me Up” made Lorelai sad because it reminded her of her aunt; that was one of Marie’s favorite songs. The more they rehearsed it, the easier it was for her to sing it. The months passed by quickly. It was March already. The school was putting on Guys and Dolls as the musical. The director of the musical was able to take interested students to Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) to see them put on Guys and Dolls. Along with seeing the show, the kids got to sit in on a choir rehearsal, get a tour of Cogswell hall, interact with the musical theater class, ask the cast questions, get a tour of Waller hall, had dinner at Foster residential dining hall. Lorelai knew that IUP was the school for her because she loved how the school was and her gut told her it was the right school. Lorelai found some of the students she had met on Facebook and instant messengers, which led to friendships. A few days later it was time for Bradford Area High School to put on their show of Guys and Dolls. Before Lorelai knew it, it was time for the trip to Disney. They met at the school at 5A.M. to make sure everyone was there and had their magical express tags on the luggage and made sure the luggage was properly tagged inside and out. Once everyone was there they loaded the luggage onto the bus then everyone got on the bus for the airport. They didn’t have a long drive to the airport. They were leaving from the airport in Buffalo. It took everyone a while to get checked in and through security. Lorelai made sure she had everything with her. Everyone was leaving at different times because they took three different planes as a group. Finally her group’s airplane got there. It was a small plane and was very uncomfortable. Lorelai felt a little sick, but she was fine. They landed in Atlanta, Georgia where they had a connecting flight to Orlando, Florida. Lorelai and her friends grabbed something to eat at the airport before they took off again. They had an hour or so to kill. Once again they got on the plane, but this time to Orlando. Lorelai once again felt sick, but she was fine until the plane landed. When the plane went into the landing, her body didn’t like that but nothing came up. Finally in Florida they got off the plane. They went to the monorail which took them from one part of the airport to another. They got on the magical express bus which took them to their hotel, the All-Star Music Hotel Since they got there so late, they decided as a group to stay at the hotel and not go to downtown Disney. Lorelai was mad because she didn’t put her swimsuit in her carryon bag and the luggage didn’t get to the hotel until 2A.M.The next day they went to the Magic Kingdom. Lorelai had to wear her band shirt and khaki shorts because the marching band was performing that day in the Celebrate a Dream Come True parade. Lorelai’s group was Jazzakai, Kristie, Selena, and herself. They rode a few rides then Lorelai and Jazzakai had to go take pictures in the rose garden by Cinderella’s Castle. Later they had to meet by the restaurant that was near a gate leading to the backstage area so they could get ready for the parade. Lorelai didn’t like the parade because she had to carry the banner that weighed a total of 120 lbs that could fit ten people on it. Luckily they had ten people on the banner so it was easier to carry. It was exciting because there were people from everywhere at the parade plus the choir students and chaperones were there to cheer on the band. Once the parade was over, they could go do whatever they wanted as long as they checked in with their chaperones. Lorelai’s chaperone was the choir director’s wife, so she was happy about that. The girls went to story time with Belle, one of the Disney princesses. They rode more rides, got food during the day, and met back up with their chaperones during the SpectroMagic parade. After the parade they went to the Animal Kingdom. They went on the safari and Erin was jealous of her daughter because Erin loves going on safaris. Lorelai took pictures of the animals with her phone. The best part of the ride was that the tour guide made it an adventure. Then they got to the dino part of the park.“Hey lets go on this ride, it looks like fun”, Lorelai said. “Ok”, replied Jazzakai, Kristi and Selena. They went on the Primeval Whirl. It was a fun ride until they got off. “Hey guys, I can’t find my phone”, said Lorelai as they got off the ride. She searched through her bag. They then told the people operating the ride. They found the car they were in and no phone. The ride operator wasn’t sure what to say to the girls. Lorelai was very upset. They thought maybe that the phone had fallen beneath the track. “Lorelai, I think the kids that were in it after us stole your phone”, said Kristie. “I agree with Kristie”, said Jazzakai. They told park officials and they told the girls that they would let them know if they found it. Lorelai was in tears and didn’t want to tell her mother what had happened. They found the Figurels at the Island Mercantile store. They asked her what was wrong and told Lorelai to call her mom.“Here Lorelai, call your mom”, said Mrs. Figurel handing her the phone. Lorelai dialed her moms’ number. “Hi mom, how are you?” asked Lorelai. “Hi honey, I’m doing fine”, answered her mom. “I lost my phone today on a ride”, Lorelai said as she started to cry, “I didn’t mean to lose it”, she continued on. “Honey it’s ok, I don’t care about that. It’s only a thing and can be replaced”, Erin told her daughter calmly. “Ok mom, well I’m going to go now. I love you”, Lorelai said. Erin replied back by saying “Ok have a nice rest of the trip. I love you too.” They hung up and Lorelai handed the phone back to Mrs. Figurel. “Thank you Mrs. Figurel”, said Lorelai. “Let’s go ride some rides and look at souvenirs”, said Kristie to Jazzakai and Lorelai. “Ok that sounds fun”, the two girls replied. They continued the rest of the day and they got the autograph of Baloo, the bear from jungle book. They also got pictures with Baloo and King Louie. Then they went on Expedition Everest a few times throughout the day. The one time she went on it, Lorelai sat in the front seat of the first car. She thought that was so much fun. Then later that day, Jazzakai, Kristie, Selena and Lorelai met up with Kristie’s sister, Brittany, to celebrate her birthday with a birthday dinner. Then when they got back to their hotel, they were going to have Brittany’s party in a friend’s room. Lorelai thought since she was going to be the only one there for a while so she took a shower. When Lorelai was done in the shower, she thought she heard Brittany’s boyfriend in the room. When she peaked through the door, he was sitting on the bed with the door open and Mrs. Figurel sitting by the door. Lorelai called Kristie over to the bathroom door. “Kristie, what is going on? I thought the party was in Brittany’s room?” asked Lorelai. “Well it was but then her roommate wanted everyone out because she doesn’t feel well. I’m really sorry about this”, replied Kristie. “It’s fine. Could you hand me my bag please?”Lorelai asked. Kristie brought over Lorelai’s bag so she could get dressed in the bathroom. Lorelai was a little mad because she wished that they would have knocked on the door and told her first, but Brittany was her friend also. The next day they went to Epcot. The girls were walking around the world showcase and when they were near France they saw Cinderella. They went up to her and got her autograph. It didn’t take that long because they were the only ones there at the time. Then they went to the Japanese part of the showcase. Jazzakai got a traditional Japanese dress. Then they rode the ride test track. The girls enjoyed that ride a lot. Then we went on Mission: Space. Lorelai didn’t like that one so much. They also went on the Seas with Nemo and Friends. They liked that one because it had the characters from Finding Nemo and then there is an aquarium, turtle talk with crush, and they got to see dolphins which were really cool the girls thought. While they were at Epcot, the choir performed there pieces. So the girls had to meet in the world showcase by Italy to go backstage and get ready. The girls didn’t enjoy the dresses because they were wearing black dresses with black shoes. When everyone was ready they got on a bus to go to the stage. After they performed and got back into street clothes they continued their day, riding rides and doing the different things.The next day which was the last day they could go to the parks, they went to Hollywood studios. They could also go to the one water park but the girls thought it was too cold to go there. They rode the tower of terror, the voyage of the little mermaid and they rode the rock ’n’ rollercoaster a few times. They also went to the block party bash parade of where saw all their favorite characters. They also went to the Magic of Disney Animation of where they learned how to draw goofy. While they were waiting to get in they saw the name tag of the kid at the door had a university on it. “Hi how do you like working here? Why are you all the way down here?”Kristie asked the guy. He replied “I like working here. I’m here for the Disney College Program through my school.” “That’s really cool” replied all the girls. They got into a conversation about the program with the kid. “Lorelai, I really want to do that, it sounds like fun”, said Kristie. “Yea it does”, agreed Jazzakai and Lorelai. After they learned how to draw a character they went and explored the rest of the building. There were interactive games that tell you what character you are most like. All the girls did that, they all got different characters. They also saw that the Mr. and Mrs. Incredible were there doing autographs, so the girls got their autographs. They also saw the Beauty and the Beast live show during the day also. Then they went to Fantasmic at the end of the day because that is the ending performance of the day at the Hollywood studios park. Then they left and went back to the hotel at the end of the day. Then the next day they came home. Lorelai’s airsickness got worse on the way home. Then when she went to get on the bus on home, she wasn’t feeling so good either. So the chaperones let her have the two seats at the front so she could feel better. “Mrs. Figurel I want to call my mom and tell her I’m on my way home”, said Lorelai to Mrs. Figurel. “Lorelai honey, I called and told her already. You can relax I’ve taken care of it”, she replied. They got back to Bradford and Lorelai was really happy to see her mom. When they got home Erin turned to Lorelai to tell her something.“Lorelai, I have something to tell you”, said her mom. “Yea mom, what is it?” asked Lorelai. “It’s your dad, he’s in the hospital. Before you left, he stopped breathing in the middle of the night. I yelled his name at top of my lungs to get him awake but he didn’t wake up and neither did you. I called 911 and when the EMT’s got here they wanted to wake you up to help get him out but I told them not to wake you. Then they took him to the ambulance and sat there for 45 minutes trying to get your dad to breathe. They finally did and then they took him to BRMC. I let you go to school last Friday without telling you because I wanted you to enjoy yourself on the trip but all the chaperones knew about it though”, Erin said to her daughter. Lorelai didn’t know what to say because she was in shock but yet she was a bit mad because she doesn’t like being left out then again she didn’t blame her mother for doing that because it was for the best. They stood there embracing each other just crying, after a while they went to bed.The first weekend Lorelai was home from the trip, she stayed at Kristie’s house while her mom went to see her dad for a few days. Her dad was in Hamot medical center in Erie, Pa. The girls had fun together. Lorelai was like another child to Kristie’s parents. Since they were in Florida for Brittany’s birthday, Brittany got to choose where she wanted to have her birthday dinner. They went to Ponderosa in St. Marys, Pa. Then Lorelai didn’t want to leave when her mom came home because she liked being at her friend’s house and they liked having her over. Lorelai’s dad spent April and May in the hospital. In April he was on life support, breathing tubes and feeding tubes. He was in the MICU for most of his stay. While he was there they did a plasmapheresi on him. A plasmapheresi is where they take the patients’ blood out and clean out the antibodies, so that way the patient feels better. That did make Lorelai’s dad feel better. Lorelai went up to visit him once with her mom. Other friends and relatives of the family went up to see him. The doctor had Erin think about pulling the plug if it came to that. Erin thought if she had to, then she would pull the plug. Todd’s family didn’t like that because they thought it should be there decision but in fact it was Erin and Lorelai’s decision, not theirs. They didn’t even come up and see him when he was in the hospital anyway. Towards the end of April and the beginning of May they removed the life support and all the machines he was hooked up too. They thought about putting in a tube in his throat for him to breathe, but it never came to that. Then in May they moved Todd to the rehab center. When he got better, he was sent home. Then he had a doctor’s appointment with doctor Carkin. “Todd you can come back now”, said the nurse. “Okay let’s get your weight, stand on the scale for me. Thank you. You’ll be in this room right here. How are you feeling today?”She said. “I’m feeling fine”, said Todd. “Well doctor Carkin will be with you shortly”, she said as she left the room. Then doctor Carkin came in. “Todd what are you doing here?”Asked the doctor in a surprising tone. She didn’t give him time to answer “People with Myasthenia Gravis that crashed like you did never get off the machines and are a vegetable for the rest of the lives”, she explained to him. Then she continued with the visit.Then June was here, Lorelai was a bridesmaid in her cousins wedding and they were having the bridal shower the last weekend. Lorelai’s aunt, uncle and second cousin came to pick her up for it. She had a really fun time. Lorelai got try on her dress and when it didn’t fit quite right, her cousin took her to try on similar dresses to figure out exactly what size she needed. The dress didn’t fit her right in the chest area. Then they also went shoe shopping and it was her cousin Josephina’s birthday the week before, her future aunt took her shopping. Then the actual bridal shower wasn’t that fun because she was one of the youngest people there and that didn’t make for much fun. After the weekend was over, her aunt and uncle brought her back home. Then the next month went by so fast, the next thing Lorelai knew it was August band camp again. Then at the end of August was her cousins’ wedding. This time the whole family went down to Lock Haven, Pa. Erin, Todd and Rose stayed at the one hotel while Lorelai stayed with her relatives so that way she could do everything with the bridal party easier. While her cousin Chelle was out, her aunt was in the shower and Chelle called her mom, well Chelle’s mom came out of the shower to answer it and she was wrapped in a towel that didn’t cover her so well. Now Lorelai was scared for life. Lorelai went into the room of where she was staying. “Lorelai I’m sorry about grandma, she is so embarrassing”, said Josephina apologizing. “Its fine really, I guess. I wasn’t expecting that”, replied Lorelai. Then the girls went back out to the living to watch some TV and wait for more to do with the wedding. Later that night, was the wedding rehearsal and dinner. “Then I will say you may kiss the bride”, said the pastor as held his bible in between the couple so they couldn’t kiss because that was kiss couldn’t be done until the actual wedding. The rehearsal didn’t take that long. Then they headed to the groom’s parents house for the dinner. Once they were done with the dinner some of them went to the fire hall to decorate for the reception that was going on the next day. “Lorelai, could you watch the kids for us?” Vicki asked nicely. “Sure I don’t mind watching them” said Lorelai excitedly because she didn’t get that much time with her cousins. Then they went out for ice cream before heading back to the house for the night.The next morning the girls had to be up early to get ready for the wedding. The girls got up and went to the hair salon to get their hair done. “Chelle what do you want me to do for Lorelai?” asked Trixie who is the hairdresser. “Just give her a French twist, keep the girls looking there age please”, replied Chelle. “With Josephina, just do a French braid, I don’t want her looking like she’s 18 yrs old”, said Chelle. “Okay that’s fine”, Trixie replied back as she started to do the girls hair. After she was done, Trixie moved on to do Chelle’s hair. Once the girls were ready, they went to the church to get ready. Chelle got some help with her dress. Once they were ready, it was time for pictures. The photographer had the bridal party do a whole bunch of combinations of people. Then it was time for the wedding and everyone got into their places. After the wedding, the bridal party carpooled to this beautiful property not too far from the church to take more pictures. There they took the “wedding magazine” pictures.Then it was time for the reception. Lorelai was excited about that because her name was announced as she came into the fire hall with her escort. The fire hall was decorated very nicely, there was buffet set up as you came in near the kitchen with tables set up in front of it for the guests to sit at. Each table had sparkling grape juice and little things the guest could take home with them. Then the cake was sitting at the end of the buffet on a table of its own. Then the bridal table was set up at the far end of the hall facing the rest of the guest. The DJ was set up to the right of the bridal table that was where the dancing took place, was between the guest tables and the bridal table. Then everything came to an end. Lorelai was going to leave but she remembered that she forgot something, when she got back to her aunt’s house she saw Chelle jumping on the trampoline in the back. “Hi Lorelai, I’ve waiting to do this all day”, Chelle told her as she jumped up and down. “I bet you have. That looks like fun”, she replied back. “Lorelai, if you would like, Frankie and I would like to have you over to our house next summer if that’s ok with your parents”, said Chelle and Frankie agreed with her. “Yea I would love that”, Lorelai replied very excitedly. When she got back to the car she told her parents and grandma what she had been told. They were very excited for her. Finally they were home after a long weekend.As the days continued on, Lorelai and her parents were getting ready to for Lorelai to go on her trip for France, Which included getting her passport and saving up money for Lorelai to take for souvenirs and such then getting that money turned into Euros. Then November came around really fast. Lorelai was really excited. Then came the day that they left, they left early in the morning. “Bye mom, I love you”, Lorelai said while loading her luggage on the bus. “Bye hunny, we love you too, Have a great time on the trip”, Erin replied. “I will. Thanks mom. I’ll call you when we get to the airport”, she said before getting on the bus. The kids and chaperones had a long trip ahead of them. They were leaving from the JFK airport in New York City because that was the closest international airport to them. Before they got into the city, they stopped in a city in New Jersey to get something to eat. It took a while to get into the security. Before they entered, they had to put their bags in a tray to be x-rayed before they entered the airport. Then they had to show their passports after that at the desk. Then they got their luggage checked in. Then they had to go through security. Everyone had to put there carryon bags, purses, shoes and everything in their pockets in a container to be x-rayed then the person went through the metal detectors. All that took so long, mainly because there were 50 people all together that were going on the trip. Then it was time to find their gate and wait for the plane to come and for them to get on. While they waited, everyone wandered around the airport getting food, souvenirs and exchanging their money for Euros if they hadn’t done so already. “Hey Lorelai, your 18 right?” asked a fellow classmate. “Yea I am why?” she asked in a surprised manner. “Could you buy us some tobacco?”The boy asked. “Sure. I’ll go get it now”, she replied. She went to the store to get what the boys wanted. Well after she did that the one boy told her they didn’t want it no more. So she went back to and got her money back. “Did you get the stuff?” The first boy asked. “Yes I did but he told me to return it”, she told him. “Why would he do that?”He asked. “Well I don’t know. I’m not buying it again”, Lorelai replied as she headed back to the gate.Finally it was time to get on the plane. Lorelai had both seats to herself on the plane. She had both window seats. Lorelai had gotten headphones before she got on. So she put her seat belt on and listened to the radio. Well the flight wasn’t very pleasant for her because she forgot to get Dramamine tablets because she gets air sick. Unlike the last flights she had just been on, the flight to France was way worse than the other time. Lorelai was so embarrassed. She tried to sleep it off but it didn’t work. She was sitting there trying to sleep it off and she felt a hand on her shoulder, it was her friend Ellen. “You’re not the only one that gets airsick, you’re not the first and you’re not the last. Don’t worry about it”, said Ellen trying to make her friend feel better, which it did work a little bit. After six hours they finally landed in France. Thank God we’re finally here thought Lorelai. They went to pick up their luggage and got on the bus that was waiting for them. Lorelai wasn’t even sitting down when she felt sick. “Let Lorelai off the bus please”, said one of the chaperones. As she rushed past people to get off. But the day got better because they got see some sights around Paris after they dropped their luggage off and Lorelai changed her sweatshirt, so that way she didn’t smell bad.When they got back to the hotel, everyone had to stay on the bus until one of their roommates name was called so that way the tour guide could give out the room keys more easily. Lorelai got her own room because someone didn’t come on the trip. The next 2 days they stayed in Paris. They got to go to the Eiffel Tower, Artist Hill, Musée du Louvre, and Arc de Triomphe along with a tour of a perfume factory, Notre dame and the shopping district. They also got to take a boat ride on the Seine River at night time. Then they went to different places that were included in the D-Day attack of World War II. That included the German Battery, American cemetery, and La Havre port that have the ramp things that were used to get machinery and trucks off the boats and onto the shore without getting to close. At that port there was also a museum that Lorelai thought was really cool. The museum had a video, replica of what the bay in the port looked like during the war, different uniforms and other things like that. Across the street from the museum was where Lorelai had lunch. They also went to Mount St. Michel and to St. Malo. St. Malo folks like to think that they are not part of France even though they are. Lorelai thought those two places were really cool. She thought St. Malo was especially cool because of its history. After going to these different places, they headed back to Paris of where there was a transportation strike because they were headed back to the United States the next day.After having dinner, the bus driver was having trouble getting the bus into the traffic, so the tour guide got off the bus and directed traffic so the bus could get into the traffic. They were headed to their hotel that was by the airport. Everyone but Lorelai got $5 back from the trip because she couldn’t pay for dinner the one day so the chaperones paid what she couldn’t pay. “Lorelai, do you want some Dramamine?” asked her one classmate because she didn’t want Lorelai to go through what she went through on the way to France. Lorelai replied saying “Yes thank you very much.” “No problem. Two should be good enough for the plane ride. You should take them now because you are supposed to take them at least an hour before” said her classmate. Lorelai took the pills. She walked over to the one store that was nearby. It had souvenirs for the tourists and Lorelai found this pen that sings Frances national anthem and it lights up. Her favorite part about the pen is that you click the button on top to write with it but it doesn’t let the pen tip out, it triggers the lights and sounds. You twist the bottom to get the pen tip out. Then before Lorelai knew it, it was time to get on the plane to head home.This plane ride was more enjoyable because Lorelai wasn’t sick like the flight over to France. Lorelai slept, ate and watched the movies that were playing. The one movie that Lorelai saw the end of was the one Harry Potter movie. Then when they were going to land, the same classmate that offered Lorelai the motion sickness medicine came over to check on her. “Hey Lorelai, how you feeling?” asked her classmate. “I’m doing better than the other flight. Thanks for asking”, she replied. “Do you want another pill or two for the landing? Because the landing can be rough at times”, said her classmate. “No thanks” said Lorelai, “I should be fine for the landing but thanks anyway”, she finished. “Ok then. Enjoy the rest of the flight”, responded the classmate. The classmate went back to her seat for the rest of the flight. They finally landed at JFK airport and were on their way back to Bradford. Lorelai didn’t have to worry about school when she got back because she was on Thanksgiving break for school. Lorelai spent most of break watching TV and being on the computer like most teenagers. Lorelai also tried to spend time with her father; she was trying really hard to strengthen their relationship. “Daddy”, yelled Lorelai from upstairs in her bedroom. “Yes Hun, what’s wrong?” asked her dad. “Nothing is wrong daddy, I just wanted to say hi and that I love you”, she responded. “Hi and I love you too”, he said back, “Is that all you wanted?” “Yeah that’s all I wanted dad”, she said. He went back downstairs to his chair. Lorelai’s father stayed downstairs most of the time because constantly going up and down the stairs too much tires him out because of his sickness. Since her father was diagnosed with the disease, she was making more of an effort to make their relationship stronger by talking to him more and involving him more in her life.Later that day Lorelai was making dinner and wasn’t sure how long to cook something for, “Dad I need some help” she yelled from the kitchen. “Yea Hun, what is it?” he asked. “How long do I cook this for?” she said while finishing up the chicken. “You cook it for 30 minutes then if it’s not cooked, you continue checking every 5 minutes or so”, he said back putting the chicken in the oven. “Oh ok, thank you for your help”, she told him as they left the kitchen as the chicken baked. Lorelai went up back up to her room while she waited. After about twenty minutes she went back to the kitchen to prepare the sides to with the chicken. She drained the potatoes and added milk along with butter to the potatoes because she was making mashed potatoes made from scratch, because her mom loves her mashed potatoes. She also warmed up some cream of corn in the microwave also. She waited until the chicken was almost done cooking to prepare these because she wanted the sides and chicken to be done around the same time as each other so that way nothing is cold by the time they were ready to eat. As a family they didn’t eat at the table because that’s how things were. Most times Lorelai and her father ate the same things around the same time because Lorelai’s mom sleeps a lot, also she doesn’t like the same things as her daughter and husband. But Lorelai did her best to cook meals that her mother would like even though her mom told her that she didn’t have to. Then Todd would end up cleaning the pots and pans from dinner because Lorelai would wait until everyone was done eating to start to clean up but her father would start before that, she would help sometimes but most of the time she didn’t. When Lorelai would take their dog out for a walk, go to the store, or just leave the house in general, she would often walk out without letting her dad know because her mom knew and that was good enough for her. Her mom tried getting her to tell her dad where she was going, sometimes she would but mostly she didn’t. As Lorelai asked her mom if she could go somewhere, she would say, “Tell your father where you are going.” Lorelai would reply back rolling her eyes, “Ok mom I will.” “Where are you going kiddo?” her dad asked her. “I am going to the store”, she would reply back. She would do that only because her mom told her to. Her mom would also tell her to ask her dad if he wanted to go to the store with her also. Lorelai didn’t like that either but when her mom asked her to do that, she did. Sometimes she wished her dad would say no, which sometimes he did, but other times he would say yes, that would irritate her at times, like it would with most teenagers.Sometimes Lorelai told her dad where she was going on her own. Lorelai really does love her dad but she was still getting used to him being home all the time because she wasn’t used to it. Her dad would work from 3:00pm-11:00pm most of the time, meaning he would leave before she got home from school and come home when she was sleeping, so she didn’t see him that much growing up which made things awkward between the two of them. This year for Thanksgiving the Owl family went out to a local restaurant for dinner because Erin didn’t feel like cooking. Plus Erin’s client paid for the meal as well. Erin was a home health aide through two different companies. It was a good Thanksgiving. Lorelai went back to school the next week. Her dad went back into the hospital but this time it was for the plasmapheresis treatment. It was done over a two week period and Todd just stayed with his bother-in-law for that. Lorelai and Erin really missed Todd but they knew that he was getting better.Lorelai continued with school and swimming. She did very well in school and she was a decent swimmer. She wasn’t the worst but she wasn’t the best. Her coaches put her into races that they felt she could do well at. When Todd came home, the girls were very happy. They missed their husband and father, the dog also missed him because she was getting confused. The dog waited for Marie to come home at night but she never did come home. The Owl’s could tell that the dog missed Marie and that she missed Todd when he wasn’t there. Lorelai missed her dad very much because she deeply loved him but couldn’t express it very well. “Daddy, your home”, said Lorelai as her dad walked through the door.“Yea I am home, it feels great”, replied Todd. He missed being home and he really missed the dog as well.“Hi dear”, said Erin as they kissed.“Hi dear”, he said back, “I really missed you.”“I really missed you too”, she said as they sat down.Todd was really tired from his ride home and just wanted to relax. He turned on the TV and petted the dog because she was really excited to have him home.The Owls were really thankful for their belief in God because without him nothing would of went the way they wanted it too. Of course they didn’t want Marie and Todd to get sick but it was the power of God that made Todd get off the life support and all the other stuff he was on to be back to his normal self. Without God the family would have fallen apart through all this like most families would have. So they were very thankful to God in all of this mess that is called their lives. Also if it weren’t for their friends and some family, they wouldn’t have survived without them either because their friends and some family members have supported them financially along with moral support. The Owls wouldn’t know what to do without their wonderful friends and family.“Dad I need your help”, said Lorelai from the kitchen.“Yea kiddo, what is up?”Her father replied.“Sarah’s chain is stuck around the pole and I can’t get to her without shoes, since you wear shoes most of the time, I thought you could untangle her for me”, said Lorelai.“Ok fine, I’ll tangle it. Sarah come her girl, good girl”, he said as he grabbed her collar to let her in so he could untangle the chain. “There ya go kiddo, the chain is untangled now.”“Thanks daddy”, Lorelai said.“No problem kiddo”, he said as they walked back into the living room. Lorelai raced her dog back into the living room because that’s what they did.When Lorelai would come downstairs for some food, she would go into the living room while her food cooked and talked to her dad. They would talk about everything under the sun except for boys and her relationships with them. When her dad was watching wrestling or NASCAR, she would ask him questions.“Who is that dude that is trying to act all tough?” she would ask while wrestling was on.“Oh that’s triple h, he thinks he’s all that but he really isn’t”, her dad would say.When she would ask about racing he would answer those questions as well. “Why is there a yellow flag?”She would ask him.“Because there was a wreck and they want the drivers to be safe even though they want to just race and win already”, he would reply back. “Right now Edwards is in the lead with Stewart behind him”, he would continue on.Those little talks are what bonded the two. Lorelai would act like she doesn’t care but she really does. Her dad is really knowledgeable when it came to certain things. They did have fights and arguments but they meant nothing. Lorelai loves her dad and he loves her back. They just never say it because that’s how her father grew up. He grew up with fourteen siblings and it was hard to keep track of that many kids, even though there was only five or six kids living at home at a time. So they didn’t get told that they were loved by their parents very often because of that and that his parents were raised that way also.He was also raised that he was stupid. His parents and siblings told him that he was stupid all his life and that he wouldn’t amount to anything. That is also why he acts the way he does because his home environment growing up was not loving and caring like it should have been. His siblings look down on Erin and Lorelai that way because they are married to him and because Lorelai is his daughter. The way he grew up counts for how he is now. It’s not that he doesn’t care for Lorelai, because he does deeply, it’s just that he doesn’t know how to express it himself because it wasn’t expressed while he grew up.Lorelai and her father often talked about politics because Lorelai would have a question about what was going on and her dad would answer it so that way she could understand. “Dad was Bill Clinton a bad president?” she asked one day.“No he wasn’t. He got us nearly out of debt as a country and also did other good things. It’s just that most people remember his presidency as being a scandal and then him being impeached for it. Actually most of our presidents had many affairs and girlfriends but the media didn’t start going into it before the 1980’s because it was a place reporters just didn’t go back then”, he replied to his daughters question because she wasn’t sure about Clintons presidency. When he was president she really didn’t care because she wasn’t old enough to understand politics but now she cared because his wife was running for President and if she would win, he would be her backbone because he was already president and could help her. “Oh ok. Thanks for answering that because I wasn’t sure if he was a good one or not”, she replied.“You’re welcome kiddo”, he said to her as she went up to her room. Everywhere Lorelai went, her dog went too. Her dog, Sarah, followed her everywhere she went and her parents called Sarah Lorelai’s shadow. The more the months went on the more Lorelai talked to her dad about things. She was beginning to open up to him about different things and discuss different things with him. He wasn’t book smart but he knew his stuff about cars, sports, animals, and politics. They would also sit on the porch and talk when it was nice out. They also would discuss different things going on in the City of Bradford like how Zippo was doing as a company.“Zippo is doing ok. They have been having an Asian company duplicate the lighters so that the only way to tell the difference is to open it. People would think they have a Zippo lighter and they would send it in to the company to be fixed but when they would open it; they would send the lighter back because it’s not theirs. So that has been hurting the company also”, he said.“Ohh I didn’t know that”, Lorelai said in surprise. “So what do you think is going to happen to them then?”She asked.“Well they will probably end up being a collectors company here in the city but have the factory somewhere else”, he replied to his daughters question. He was only guessing because he doesn’t work for the company and doesn’t know for sure what is going to happen to them. Zippo had just celebrated their 75th anniversary of being a company.They would also just sit on the porch and watch the animals do their stuff. For example they would watch Sarah as she watched the groundhogs and squirrels do their thing. They would also watch squirrels fight for food and the groundhogs fight their stuff. They would also see a stray cat here and there on the street as well. The two would bond over the next few months talking about cars and different sports. Lorelai was curious about different things when it came to sports and cars. “What kinds of cars do you like dad?” Lorelai would ask him.“Well kiddo, I like different cars. Fords are good cars for the winter. So are Toyotas”, he would say. Then they would talk about that for a while then they would talk about cell phones. “Well some companies just want to have the same plan and that way people can talk to whoever they want when they want to. But some companies don’t want that because then they can’t charge their clients all these different fees for overtime, long distance, and other things like that”, he would say.“Well that would make sense to just do it so that way everyone can talk to who they want when they want no matter what service they are on”, she responded.“I know it would, but the companies wouldn’t make any money that way”, he told her because phone companies want to make as much as they possibly can.Then they would also make meals together because Lorelai wouldn’t know how long something cooked for or she wasn’t sure what size a pan was when she would make brownies or cake. He would help her with that, which also helped them bond more and was a huge step from where they were before all this happened and he had to stay home. Because it took all of them, including him time to adjust to him being home like that no one was use to it. But now they were all getting used to it.When she would go to her friend’s house, she would take him along with her because he was friends with her friend’s parents. They had a good time at her friend’s house. She was like family to them. Lorelai wanted to try to get her hunting license and her mom wanted her dad’s guns gone but they needed sprucing up before that could happen because the guns had been sitting in the attic for at least nineteen years. So Lorelai and her dad took the guns to that friend’s house so the father could fix the guns up for them so they could get rid of them. So Lorelai went with her father for the guns. They had a good time. Lorelai got some tough love because she was just kidding around and had the gun pointed at her friend and she didn’t know that she couldn’t do that even though the guns wasn’t loaded and the barrel wasn’t shut the all way because if a cop or state trooper went by and saw that, Lorelai could be in big trouble. Which she didn’t know that at the time but that was the last time she ever did that.Also she would go to her grandma’s house with her dad because her mom didn’t like going to her in-laws because of how mean they have been to them in the past. So that was also bonding for the two as well because they would talk about stuff on the ride to the house. The house was twenty minutes away because it was located in a rural area just south of the city. The song about going to grandma’s house was true for Lorelai’s grandma’s house because you really had to cross a river and go through the woods to get there because she lived in the middle of the woods, But her grandma didn’t live alone. Lorelai’s aunt lives there and sometimes her one uncle lives there plus there is almost always a grandchild there and sometimes there parent was their but Lorelai’s grandma babysat for her kids every now and then. Most of Lorelai’s toys had ended up there because of her cousins being there and Lorelai was the oldest of the grandchildren that lived nearby.When they were there a lot of times, Lorelai would end up falling asleep and taking a nap but she sometimes stayed awake to talk with whoever was there which was mostly an aunt or uncle or two along with her grandma. Her dad and grandma would talk about the neighbors and how their dogs were loud, got loose and what not. Then she would also talk about the wild animals that came by and about the flowers around the property. It was generally always a good visit for both her and her dad. Then they would also talk about relatives and what is going on with them. Because Lorelai’s oldest uncles on her dads side live on the other side of the country and one of her cousins from them is in the military, so they would talk about them. Lorelai would watch TV at her grandma’s house because she really doesn’t care about what is going on in her uncle’s lives across the country. She does care but not the point of discussing it with her grandmother and father. Then after being there for a couple hours they would go back home.“Hi mom we’re home from grandmas”, said Lorelai when they got back.“No one is home, I moved somewhere else”, her mom said sarcastically.“Yea right, then how come you answered?” Lorelai would say back.“It is just a figment of your imagination”, her mom replied back. “How was your grandmother’s house?”She asked.“It was fine. Mina was there of course. But that’s all who was there besides dad, grandma and I”, she said to her mom.“How was it?” She asked her husband.“Fine, we talked about how David and Daniel were doing along with their families and how my nieces and nephews are doing”, he said.“That’s good she said”, back to her husband.Lorelai and her father had a non-existent relationship before he got MG. She didn’t see him that much. The only time she saw him was on the weekends, during holidays and the summers. But he still had to work during the summers but Lorelai didn’t have school which it made it easier for her to see her dad during the summers. When he got MG, it completely turned her family’s world upside down because they weren’t used to having him home. When he diagnosed with it, they were relieved that it wasn’t anything more serious. It took them a long time to get used to him being home including the dog. The more he was home and the more they got used to it, the more Lorelai opened up to him and started talking more. Her relationship with her dad grew the more they talked about different things and did more things together even if she was forced by her mom to do them.Lorelai did ask her dad to do things with her without her mom saying anything but it was hard. She also started to tell her dad where she was going more after a while because she didn’t want him to be out of the loop. So there relationship this day isn’t all that great and they aren’t best buds but they are on better speaking terms then when they were when all this first started to happen. They are closer together now than they were and the relationship is continuing to grow as time goes on.Works CitedAnderson, Jane M. "Ankylosing Spondylitis: Inflammatory Arthritis of the Spine with Strong Genetic Component. (Cover story)." Journal of Controversial Medical Claims 16.4 (2009): 1-13. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. <, Randi s. "TO LOVE AND BE LOVED: SEXUALITY AND PEOPLE WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES." Journal of Psychology & Theology 30.3 (2002): 195. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. <;"Myasthenia gravis." Mayo Clinic Health Letter 25.3 (2007): 6. Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCO. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. <, Fattah, et al. "Effects of Father's Education on their Emotional Relationship with Children." International Journal of Learning 16.6 (2009): 401-413. Education Research Complete. EBSCO. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. <;"Spondyloarthritis." Current Medical Literature: Rheumatology 28.4 (2009): 93-97. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. <; ................
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