- a person of great strength. - one that shows great courage - an object of extreme admiration and devotion.

This is how I feel about the courageous woman I am proud to be married to because she has overcome obstacles and has learned how to live each day with hope and optimism.

But... ..it wasn't always like that. Away back in the olden days, we are talking late 70's and 80's (I9 hundreds that is) life took a devastating twist which shook our marriage right to the core.

Our son Brad was born with severe chronic asthma which resulted in frequent hospital admissions. When he wasn't in the hospital he needed constant home care day and night mostly provided by Linda. This was back before cell phones so Linda could not leave home without a pager for fear she would get a call from the school about Brad. At age 3 he developed diabetes and we had to learn how to give needles, keep him on a strict diet, monitor the signs and symptoms of low or high blood sugars while coping with the realization our son had yet another deadly disease. Anyway, you get the picture. The stress of the daily pressures put a constant strain on our family, myself and our eight year old daughter. The stress and pressure took their toll on Linda. Always in pain, tired and irritable, she lashed out at us and I lashed back. The doctors could find nothing wrong. She looked fine. This went on for years and I thought she was putting on this horrible charade seeking attention and pity for some unknown reason. I would come home from work dead tired and at times have to face preparing supper or do the vacuuming, laundry, dishes, etc. and I was beginning to resent it. I thought "what's going on here, you look O.K. There's nothing broken, why do I have to do most of the work around here, how could you do this to me? "We curtailed many of the activities we were used to doing, for example travelling, walking, and a lot of the fun things I wanted to do. What is up with her, she lookes great. Am I going to have to live the rest of my life like this? At that point I never stopped to think about the absolute hell she was going through. I was just sulking about poor me and what I was missing. In the mid 80's Linda was admitted to the psych ward after a serious burn-out. I went to visit her and as I looked around in that locked-up facility, I thought there is no way she belongs in a hell-hole like this and I told (he doctor in no uncertain terms to get her out of there. He let her out but told her she would never get better. We made a commitment to prove him wrong which we did. Low and behold, shortly after that she was told she had Fibrositis. When, I said, "What the hell is Fibrositis?" We were told it is a condition that affects the muscles and causes among a whole host of symptoms constant and severe pain in the muscles. "Ha!" I said, "now we know what it is, give her some pills and fix it. O.K., Doc?" But you can't fix it Greg, there is no magic bullet for this one---- sorry but I can send her for therapy and she can try acupuncture and blah, blah, blah. We tried them all, some helped some didn't and then Linda spotted an ad in the paper about a support group that was starting up for Fibrositis and she asked if I would go for support. I said yes because I wanted to learn all I could about the beast that was trying to test us and our marriage. Our first meeting included a rheumatologist who spoke about the signs and symptoms of this horrible condition. I leaned over to Linda with a look of astonishment and said "he is talking about you". I got the flu and went to the doctor to get some Tylenol 3 because I could barely stand. The severe pain had consumed by whole body. The doctor said "Linda feels that way alot of the time". I said "You have got to be joking. " and from that day on I made a vow to try and understand and support her in anyway I could and to help her get through each day as best she could. Oh there are still severe setbacks because now there are other major health problems to face but our love and faith prevails and we have learned to make the best of living with a condition we now know as Fibromyalgia. As I think back over the years and see how selfish I acted it makes me kind of embarrassed and ashamed but one thing is for certain, when I see my wife get up each morning committed to get through one day at a time no matter what she has to face, she definitely is my new found hero.

Greg