#Mhambc Day 26 - Family = Hope - http://thequirkyfox.blogspot.com

Choose your own hope topic: Please choose your own topic related to living with hope and write about it.

Once again, I am behind on this blog challenge. This has been a very busy week and yesterday I was barely home. I had enough time to get Thursday's done but not today's (which technically, is yesterday's). Last night it began to rain and all through the night a migraine kept me from sleeping. I woke up in pain and feeling groggy, nauseous and lightheaded. Needless to say, my brain is not at full working capacity which is not a good thing when I'm supposed to be using it to think of things to write about. Thankfully, this prompt allows me to choose my own topic. Since my eyeballs feel like they are being forced out of their sockets, I am going to repost a topic I wrote about last year about my family. They have gotten me through every station on this journey and because of them I remain hopeful. I hope that you enjoy it!

My beautiful family during my daughter's Sweet 16 last year.

Those beautiful faces that you see above are my everything. My family makes living with Migraine easier because they support and uplift me through every painful moment. My children show me unconditional love and are so sympathetic to what I go through. Never have they ever made me feel bad or inadequate about not being able to always do things with them. I know that it may upset them sometimes but at the end of the day, they understand why I can't and that if things were different I would do everything with and for them whenever they needed me to. They know how much I love them and I know how much they love me. If any of them could, they would take all of my pain away. I find ways to make them feel special and appreciated when I can't participate in some of their extracurricular activities. They really love that. And they help me out in the house when I am unable to take care of certain chores. My daughter is especially good at getting her brothers to clean up the house without me telling them to whenever I am too sick with pain to do it myself. When she leaves for college in two years, I'll be at a loss because she is like a second mother to her brothers and steps in whenever I can't.

My husband...That man has been by my side through everything. The fact that he hasn't backed away and left me is amazing to me. What he has been through with me not every man can handle. Yet, he continues to love me, support me, and be my biggest supporter and advocate. Although we have been through many rough patches that would test any marriage, our bond has grown stronger and our friendship has matured and become sustenance for both of us. I am allowed to be my weakest and most vulnerable with him and he embraces that about me. Never will he make me feel like a burden to him. He hates that I suffer so much and it hurts him that he can't fix me. His source of strength allows me to feel as though I can and will conquer this in some way or another. The way that he loves me through my pain is admirable. I have seen people lose relationships because their significant others couldn't handle it or blamed them for their pain. I am blessed, not lucky, to have found this man.

Growing up with Migraine is a horrible thing for a child to go through. My parents did everything they could to find a remedy to stop the pain. They comforted me and took care of me and made me feel very loved and protected. As an adult, they continue to rally in my corner. Whenever I am having a bad day, my father either had a dream the night before that I was in pain or he himself feels sick in some way. He's always had the connection with me. It hurts my father to see that I am still struggling to control this disease and that in the process I have developed other chronic pain conditions. My mother, although she has gone through her own battles with breast cancer, has been and continues to be my best friend, supporter and place of comfort. I remember as a little girl, her rubbing my temples during one of my attacks and telling me to think of the ocean and the sound of the waves to help me relax and concentrate less on the pounding going on in my head. That is something I will never forget her doing for me in my many times of need.

All of them are my motivation. They give me purpose and make me feel purposeful in this world. I do not know how I could survive in this life without them in it to help me navigate through it. Being loved and supported makes an absolute difference in how well I do physically and mentally. Knowing that no matter what, they will always be with me and for me. That's something I will never take for granted and will cherish for all my days.