I'm so excited to have found this site! My nick-name has been "Cherry" sense High School. Then Warrant came out with there (early 90's) hit song "Cherry Pie". I have quite a few friends here in Wisconsin and almost everyone calls me Cherry. Some people only know me as Cherry. I have a best friend with the same first name as me "Laurie." Were often together when we go out so having the same first name and having a lot of the same friends makes it even more confusing. Sense I've known "Lori" (yeah, it's spelled different) shes had the nick name Bacardi. I don't ever recall a time when I called her up saying "Hi Lori, it's Laurie." It's always been "Hey Bacardi, it's Cherry." Shes an amazing person who has always been an inspiration to me and many others. Bacardi has glaucoma and is legally blind, I'm always forgetting this when we hand out. Most people look at the blind and think just because there sight doesn't work right, there brain doesn't work right either. That is so wrong! She does have some sight in one eye, very little but shes able to see color and even read, if the print is large and whatever shes reading is held close to her eye. She has Katie with her, a dog guide who was trained at Leader Dog. Katie is an extremely friendly, beautiful, black Labrador (that loves her auntie Cherry!!) that seems to be an ordinary pet while at home but when there out Katie is Bacardi's eyes. The things that Katie can do are amazing! She finds empty seats in a crowded area like a cafeteria or auditorium, knows when a stop light changes, finds groceries that Bacardi's looking for, Katie will even push her out of the way of she senses danger of any kind. People are always going to look, talk, or even stair when a dog is in a restaurant or in a shopping mall because it's unusual to see. They think to themselves or put loud it's a blind lady and her seeing eye dog. I never looked at her that way, if I called her a the blind lady she'd probably come kick my ass. My daughter Ashley was young at the time when a mother was telling her son "That's a blind lady with a special seeing eye dog to help her." Ashley corrected the mother "That's not a blind lady! That's my auntie Bacardi and her dogie Katie, she's a Labrador.
Most people would say that my life and what I've been through is really depressing, sad or a real struggle. I would say it's more of a challenge at times, but has great rewards. I LOVE my life, I have a different outlook. I understand why others feel its sad and depressing at times, the bad times are HORRIBLE they really stand out. This is mainly because of my daughter Ashley's illness. Ashley was given a 90% chance of death, I was told that if she lived she would be paralyzed. SURPRISE! My precious angel is as healthy as can be. She has a rare blood disease called Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. She had a stroke when she was 11, she is 17 now. You can see a pic of her in my folder. She checks the comments left for her pic every so often. She is so happy to see that people are rating her and sending her so much love.

I've had my share of bad things happening to me. I'll tell you what happened August of 2003. I went to my best friends, and my Grandfathers funeral/wake they were the same days/different times. Both died while Ashley was in the hospital. When Ashley was in P.I.C.U (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) and I'm told she's getting worse & could die, I was getting calls from friends, family members, even on-line friends that heard the news offering their support. I also got some bad news calls. One of my best friends, Donna called to say that her dad just passed away, Donna & I grew up together. Next was a call from my best friend Cheryl's husband. He told me that Cheryl (his wife) died that morning. After I hung up, my boyfriend (at the time) John was holding me. Crying my eyes out I said what next! Am I gonna get a call in the middle of the night saying that my Grandpa died too!? He had been in the hospital already. He was very sick during the last few months. I awoke at 4:00 in the morning to my cell phone ringing, it was my step dad, he said that my Grandpa had died.

That is one example of a block of bad things happening there are more but that is the worst. Fire, burglary, car accidents, abuse, depression, anxiety, divorce, rape just to name a few of the things I've dealt with. HOWEVER, I couldn't even begin to write the countless times I will treasure the rest of my life, some because of what I have been through. I often say "Anything That Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" I also believe that everything happens for a reason. We may never know that reason.

I'll write more about myself later. (happier times) I would love to get to know more about all my friends here on Fubar. Drop me a line anytime. I'm very open and honest, I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Love & Big HUGS,

Laurie~

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