Siobhan, Sara, Aidan and I live in a home in Trumbull, CT. We bought our "This Old House" house back in 1998 and it took us 3 months of renovating just to get to live in it. We are still working as the MSA has slowed me down a bit! We have a small yard filled with flowers from both us and the previous owners. From Spring to Autumn, flowers are in bloom. My wife is a Licensed Practical Nurse who is currently working for the Trumbull Police - she's the animal caretaker at out town dog pound. We always have dogs in the house. Sometimes we're being foster parents but we always own 3 of our own. We've had so many as 12 dogs in the house thanks to Zoe having puppies without informing us when we brought her home. Zoe was given away recently. She was badly beaten when we took her home. She was frightened by me and my cane, walker, wheelchair (tool of the day) and often lunged and growled at me. We still have Balbo who is about 10 years old. We found him abandoned in a parking lot when we lived in Vermont. Sammy's still a pup but is bigger than Balbo. He's 100% American Staffordshire Terrier - Pit Bull. He was the dog the Drug Dealers alowed their dogs to attack to make their dogs more aggressive. Aidan and I love him to death. He is gentle, kind, and loving. Tootsie is our newest addition - half spaniel/half dachshund - not the prettiest thing but pretty low key. She loves to sleep by the computer when I'm working. She is very territorial - she gets mad when the other dogs get near her food, toys, or sleep area. Other than that she is a "lamb", I call her that.
I talked about my dogs first, because I can not truely express the love I have for my family. My wife Siobhan (pronounced shi-von) is my best friend and the love of my life. We've been throught oo much together but we always seem to manage. I think that is why God put us together. Her medical knowledge is handy, her outgoingness helps get things done, and her love keeps me going.
Our family is everything to us - we don't go away for more than a day without the kids. They make us laugh, they make us scream, we love them to death. After Sara was born we said that was our one and only then one day out of the blue, 5 years later, we decided to try it again (having a child!). Sara has my features and personal qualities although she's more outgoing than I was at her age. She's Miss Social Butterfly at school and has lots of friends. Her report card is always filled with "A"'s. She is taking violin lessons this year and constantly has to be involved in some activity. Sara was born in 1991
Aidan on the other hand has my handsome figures and his mother's temper. He's a big dinosaur fan - he's only got about twenty different dinosaurs. He's our child with the imagination. Unlike Sara, he hates the outdoors. He could stay in all day and play with his toys getting lost in his imagination. He goes to school 3 days a week and just loves it. Aidan was born in 1997.
We've had our ups and downs and we never hide anything from the kids. We openly discuss our belief system so we teach our children our basic "religious" belief - Treat others as you wish to be treated. Our emotions are never hidden. When I cry my children see it. Sara bends over backwards to help me with my MSA - it hurts her inside, you can see it when she sees my friends with PD and MSA. She knows more about the disease then I ever thought. I tried to explain PD to her one day and she says "I know, your body needs extra dopamine to make it work." She is a blessing - as a woman she will "travel places" no woman has yet to go. She doesn't know all about the MSA yet but she picks up enough with her inquisitive ears.
Aidan, my little snuggler, pats me on the head when I'm down and asks, "Are you sad, Daddy?" Even with my "masked" face he can tell when I'm having a bad day, "Are you happy?" He'll ask. If I say yes, he replies, "Cool!"
UPDATED Aug. 13, 2003
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