Category Archives: Activism

Salute

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Howard Dickson Pendergrass, Sr. My grandpa

Howard Dickson Pendergrass, Sr. My grandpa

6 year Pacific Fleet Boxing Champ aboard the U.S.S. Arizona, prior to Pearl Harbor.

6 year Pacific Fleet Boxing Champ aboard the U.S.S. Arizona, prior to Pearl Harbor.

Stationed aboard the U.S.S. Ludlow

Stationed aboard the U.S.S. Ludlow

The Howard Dickson Pendergrass men.. Sr. and Jr.

The Howard Dickson Pendergrass men, Sr. and Jr.

This picture, and those above, are my Grandfather, Howard Dickson Pendergrass, Sr.  Retired Navy.  The picture of him in the tent, I thought was my Uncle, his son, who served during Vietnam.  So young and they look so much like each other, could not believe it.  So amazing.

Uncle, William Clyde Chambers

Uncle, William Clyde Chambers

Uncle, Phil Wesley Tindle, Jr.

Uncle, Phil Wesley Tindle, Jr.

Uncle, Cleo McComas

Uncle, Cleo McComas

The man in the dark sailor uniform is my Uncle, William Clyde Chambers, married to my dad’s sister, Betty Jo Tindle.  (Yeah, named after her)

The next young man, with the young lady, is my dad’s brother, Phil Wesley Tindle, Jr.  With the lady he married.  Aunt Ruth.

The last young man is my Uncle Cleo, married to my Aunt “Pete”, I really gotta find out how she got that nickname, her real name is Lucille.  She is my great-aunt, aunt to my mother.

There are lots more that have served in my family, all of these young men are now gone, including my uncle, in the picture up there with my Grandfather, the two Pendergrass men. He died waiting for a heart transplant, of a massive heart attack, in 1990 at the age of 51.  Shoot, they all died of heart attacks.  :(   Didn’t even think of that.

Anyway, have had cousins in the marines, I heard, while I was in the Air Force that I even had a female cousin in the Air Force while I was in the Air Force.  I think she is from Alabama, I don’t know that I ever met her.  That I recall.  We didn’t live there very long, about one year, when I was a kid, before my brother was born.  He was born there, I must have been young because the two of us are 16 months apart.  I was a baby! :)

I guess we have a long tradition of military members in our family.  On all sides.  As do many others, everywhere.

My hat is off to all in salute.

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Triumph Over Tragedy

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Triumph Over Tragedy.

You are looking at a touching image with an incredible story. The picture shows a small child comforting and feeding a baby. Both are orphans, yet well cared for and loved. These children, while orphans, are not neglected or in need.

We often ask ourselves why bad things happen to good people. This is the story of just such a situation, and the amazing example of triumph occurring out of tragedy.

The incredible story begins in 1873, and centers around Horatio and Anna Spafford. The Spaffords were living comfortably in Chicago, when they decided to visit Europe. Horatio had some last minute business to attend to, so he sent his wife and children on. On the way to Europe, their ship, the S. S. Ville De Havre, was struck by another ship and was sunk. Horatio’s four children died in the accident. His wife was found floating on some wood, unconscious, but still alive. She arrived in Wales 9 days later, and sent a fateful telegraph to her husband, which read, “Saved Alone, What Shall I do?”.

Upon receiving the tragic news, Horatio immediately departed to join his wife. On the voyage across the ocean, the Ship Captain came to Horatio’s cabin, and notified him that they were now passing over the spot where his children had lost their lives. Receiving this solumn announcement, and while over the precise spot that the children drowned, Horatio took out a pen, and wrote the immortal Hymn, “It is Well with My Soul“.

If you are not familiar with this Hymn, we share the words to it below:

It is Well With My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blessed assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul.

The Hymn has been both a comfort and generation to men and women of faith for many generations. However, Horatio did not simply write the hymn, and then get back to his old life. Horatio and Anna decided to serve God in the Holy City of Jeruselam. This was before Israel was a Nation. Horatio stated that “Jerusalem is where my Lord lived, suffered and conquered and I wish to learn how to live, suffer and especially to conquer”. While in Jeruselam, they built the American Colony. They cared for the sick and ministered to the needs of the poor of the Holy City. They also set up the Anna Spafford Baby Home, an orphanage providing loving care for the children of the area. The image above was taken in 1925, and show the enduring legacy of the Spaffords. Their facility was still providing for children some 50 years after their tragic loss. It is a story of hope and triumph, and how one man was able to turn tragedy into triumph.

Avery’s Bucket List

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Avery’s Bucket List.

Facts about SMA & My Weekend

Is 191,000 page views in less than 7 full days a lot?  Mommy & daddy say it is a lot of people and if I stop now, I should be very proud of myself because I’ve reached thousands of people who’d never heard of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).  I politely told mommy & daddy that while it’s nice a few thousand people are aware of SMA because of my story, I’m of  the belief that my story, along with the stories of other families with SMA and the facts about SMA, should be known by millions.  So thank you to everyone for sharing and supporting my story!  Always remember, the best way to help & the kindest gift you can give me is the gift of a broader voice.  So please continue helping me spread awareness about SMA by forwarding my blog to everyone you know.

Before I share my weekend, here are some facts about Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA):
1 in 40 people (that’s over 7,500,000 people) in the U.S. alone are carriers of SMA.  I lost count somewhere between my big toe and my pinky toe, but doesn’t that seem like an awfully BIIIIIIG number for most people to have never even heard of the #1 genetic killer of infants and children under the age of 2?  And if you think about it, that number could be significantly higher than 7.5 million.  I mean, do you recall when your last SMA carrier test was?  Or the last time an SMA carrier test was offered to you?

I know my mommy & daddy were never offered a test to see if they were SMA carriers.  Did you know you can ask your doctors to test you and your partner for the SMA carrier gene prior to conceiving children?  And did you know that if you both carry the SMA gene you can use alternative fertilization methods (ewwwwww yucky) to ensure your children will be born without SMA?  Or if you prefer, you can still try and conceive a child naturally (again, ewwwwwww), in which case you’ll be susceptible to the following probabilities (proba what?):

There’s a 1 in 4 chance my new friend will contract SMA; a 2 in 4 chance my new friend will be a carrier of SMA; and a 1 in 4 chance my new friend will not be effected by SMA at all.  So based on this, it’s probable that a couple who have never been tested for the carrier gene, could unknowingly both be carriers and already have 1 or more healthy friends for me.  But if they decide to make me another friend, then they are susceptible to the probability figures above.

Oh and just because you have ZERO family history of SMA or any other muscular disease, that does not mean it’s not in your family history.  My mommy & daddy asked all of our living relatives to go back as far as they could, and nobody could think of anyone who ever showed signs of SMA or any other muscular related diseases.  And according to daddy, Nana Sandi has a lifetime subscription to Ancestry.com and when she’s not having fun with me, playing Words With Friends or Castleville (whatever that means), she’s researching our family history and she couldn’t find anything either.

This was my weekend…

My mommy made a new friend named Courtney whose daughter Kaitlin had SMA Type 1 like me.  Courtney told mommy that she used to put Kaitlin in the bathtub because it took this thing called gravity away and would allow Kaitlin to move her arms and legs better.  OMG, thank you Courtney for telling mommy about this because I had soooooooo much fun…

…daddy told me that I may have to make a public service announcement (huh?) apologizing for what he calls my Janet Jackson Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction moment towards the end of my bath time performance…I’m sorry?  for whatever that means.

I also received my first request to be someone’s Valentine…thanks Uncle Ryan & Aunt Lacey for buying me roses the size of my head!  Daddy told me to watch out, just in case these ridiculously giant roses want to go Little Shop of Horrors on me…whatever that means.

Mommy keeps telling me to be thankful I got her looks and her personality.  Daddy keeps telling mommy she’s right.  Mommy being right seems to happen a lot and if you’re scoring at home, that’s Mommy-4, Daddy-0.

Daddy says he lets mommy win, but I know that’s not true.
Mommy-4, Me-1, Daddy-minus 2.  Daddy loses one point for lying to me and an extra point for lying to himself.

I tasted my first Cheeto, and probably my last after daddy ruined it by reading the nutritional value to me.
And probably my favorite part of the weekend was when my daddy took the advice of this nice man who asked my daddy for money at a stop light, but my daddy told him he didn’t have any cash and if the nice man ever got a Wi-fi connection and a credit card machine he’d make a killing.
Me, mommy, daddy, Nana Sandi, G-Pa, and the Bormaster/Feinstein family (Grauntma Leslie, Grandpa Scooter, my Aunt’s Alli, Kelly, and Kimmie, and Uncle Jeffrey) had the beeeeeeeeeeeeest time flying a kite.Daddy told me there’s three things I should take from my kite flying experience.

#1. Hopefully that nice man doesn’t take daddy’s advice.
#2. The next time someone tells you to “go fly a kite”.  Do it and then send them a picture.  It’s a lot of fun!
#3. Grauntma Leslie is a Grauntma because she’s old enough to be my grandma, but she looks good enough to be my aunt…daddy also told me to say that Grandpa Scooter is an overachiever…whatever that means.

I’m pooped!
Items I Can Scratch Off My Bucket List:
1. Move my legs for mommy & daddy
2. Rock a bikini!
3. Take a big girl bath
4. Get asked out for a Valentine’s date
5. Tasted solid foods
6. Fly a kite
7. Sit on daddy’s shoulder
8. Pass out on the couch watching infomercials.


Up Next:
Yesterday, some of my new friends helped me spread my message about SMA and I will post links & videos later today or tomorrow:104 KRBE – Roula & Ryan Show
FOX 26 News Houston
CBS 11 News Houston
Tonight, some of my uncle’s are throwing me a Texas backwoods birthday party…whatever that means.


Don’t forget to share my story by following & forwarding my blog, following me on Twitter  (AveryBucketList) and Like Me on Facebook (Averys Bucket List)!  While it may or may not help me in my lifetime, the more people who are aware of SMA, the less likely future children will be born with SMA, and the more likely there will one day be a cure for children who already have SMA!

http://www.facebook.com/AverysBucketList

https://twitter.com/#!/AveryBucketListIf there’s anything you’d like to mail me, you can send it to:


Avery’s Bucket List
PO BOX #2849
Bellaire, TX 77402


Also, my mommy & daddy wanted me to make sure you know that any monetary contributions will be used towards continued SMA awareness and the further advancement of research to find a cure for SMA.

Read, while crying, over at Avery’s Bucket List