Thursday, February 5, 2009

#25

Kristal asked for more details on my 25th random fact about me. It's kind of long so I just thought I'd create a new post instead of a huge comment.

At least two or three times in my life my sister has told me about some weird dream and then it (or something eerily similar) happens. Weird, huh?

My little brother's story is probably my favorite. He has almost died about a million times. He was born purple because the umbilical chord was in knots and wrapped around his neck, he has survived a 104.6 fever when he was about 6 weeks old and swallowed glass shards from a broken baby food jar that we didn't know was broken because the label was wrapped over it. When he was three, they told my parents he had a benign tumor on his adenoid so doctors removed both of them along with his tonsils. Once when playing catch with my dad, the ball hit my brother's glove a certain way, bouncing out just perfectly to hit him in the chest and send him into cardiac arrest. My mom is certified for her job in CPR, shock and all things emergency. She saved him before the ambulance got there. At twelve he was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. No, that will not kill you as long as you educate yourself and eat certain things at certain times, yada yada but year later he was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and Lymphoma. The diets and medication almost completely clash. A couple of months after that, the doctors told my parents that all forms of cancer and celiac were completely gone. Vanished. They said it was a miracle and couldn't explain it any other way. He still gets tested to make sure it's really gone and they still haven't seen any traces of either disease. He still has diabetes but is otherwise in perfect health. Either way, it makes you realize that everyday with someone you love is truly a gift.

My parents aren't all supernatural or anything but my dad can run really, really fast. It's crazy. When we were younger, he'd give us half a soccer field head start and still beat us. He's 50 now and can still out run my also fast, 18 year-old brother.

My mom is in the STL Cathedral choir and they sang for the Pope when they all went to the Vatican and when he came to STL.

My grandmother is an extraordinary woman. She had an amazing voice- that's probably where my mom got it- and used to sing opera. She was also a professional tennis player. I'm not exactly sure how long she did either but she was paid for it and people came to see her. She's also one of the founders of Our Lady's Inn.

My aunt, Ann Wagner is the Ambassador in Luxembourg. (She's my mom's brother's wife.) She lives there with the two younger kids and my uncle lives here in St. Louis. Their oldest son goes to West Point and would like to be a Senator some day. The distance can be challenging but they are a very happy family. I think this is her last year and she comes home. They have racked up zillions of frequent flyer miles and meet in Washington D.C. sometimes.

Oh- I forgot to add this: A few of you commented on my husband's knowledge in the post he helped me create about the Recession. Now, I might be a little biased but I really think that my husband is probably a genius. He is super smart. You know how lawyers need to pass the Bar Exam to practice? Well people who want to work with the stock market need to pass the Series 7. He did that when he was finishing his sophomore and going into his junior year in college. He began pursuing his CFA after that. There are three tests to pass before becoming a CFA Charterholder. He passed all three the first time. The odds of that are less than 8%. I think that's impressive and I'm extremely proud of him. I'm not saying that I'm not smart but I hope to all that is holy that some of his brains are passed on to our children. (We always joke that he's the I.Q. and I'm the E.Q.) He, of course, would never tell you this and would probably make a joke instead about paying people to take the tests and how his current job involves laundering money. Obviously, neither of those jokes are true!

I'm sure I've got other crazy family members with crazy stories but that's all I can think of for now. I'm pretty ordinary, relatively (pun intended) speaking.

3 comments:

Rhonda said...

Wow.

Genetics are on your side, lady friend. 60% of human traits are genetically predisposed, so environment/parenting only accounts for 40% of your nature. The most prevalent genetically inherited trait is intelligence, so you and MXQ are good to go for making smart kiddos. And nice ones ;)

Pamela said...

awww!! thanks Rhonda!

Trisha said...

Wow, this is all very interesting! :) You're a rock star (or something)! ;)