Avery's Bucket List

Every now and then you hear a story or see a picture that you just can't get out of your head.  That happened to me about two weeks ago when I heard about little Avery and I just can't stop thinking about her.  My friend Kate wrote a blog post about her friend from Texas whose five month old daughter, Avery, was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, or SMA.  It's an incurable disease that attacks the muscles and will inevitably be the cause of her death.  And we're not talking years.  We're talking months.

The night I read about Avery I was sitting on our couch waiting for Nick to get home from a late call.  I read Kate's blog post and immediately went to Avery's.  I made it through maybe half of the first post before the water works started.  I cry at pretty much everything and this only made it worse.  I was crying for Avery, for her parents and for the situation.  I sat there and thought "why them?" and "why this perfect little girl?".  Then I thought about our two sweet, perfect nephews and how life just isn't fair.

I've been trying to put myself in her parents' shoes and think about how I would react to the situation.  Avery's parents took the path less traveled and instead of just waiting around for the worst to happen, they're making sure their little girl has the best life she can have.  So, I introduce you to Avery's Bucket List.  The blog is written from Avery's perspective and with a  little humor, explains SMA and what she wants to accomplish.  Some of the items on her Bucket List have already been crossed off but there are still many more to come.

I still feel completely helpless which is something that I hate.  But here is one item that everyone can help with. One of the items on Avery's Bucket List is to raise awareness of SMA and that's where this blog post comes in.  I realize there are maybe three people that read this blog but if you can, share her story and information about SMA.  It's a tragic story but hopefully something good will come out of it.