carpe diem!
rejoice while you are alive;
enjoy the day;
live life to the fullest;
make the most of what you have.
it is later than you think.
- ancient roman poet, 65 BC - 8 BC

i share this in response to the news i received today of the passing of a friend's daughter, dear maddie schafer. one day, two years ago, she was fine...a perfectly healthy 10 year old. the next, she started having massive seizures...she could no longer walk...she could no longer talk. over the past two years, they tried to stabilize her seizures; however, maddie continued to have seizures throughout every day, sometimes even every hour. their world was turned upside down in an instant. maddie's family was so dedicated to making maddie's life as normal and fulfilled as possible. maddie had been doing great and then yesterday morning, they went up to her room and she had passed away. totally unexpected, they believe she suffered a massive seizure that she was unable to recover from.

run maddie. run. hear. play soccer. swim. eat. talk.
i know you are an angel now
the angel that will watch over and protect your family here on earth
until they see you again.

(i met kim, maddie's mom, years ago, while we were in WA. she was the pediatric representative for kiele's cochlear implant company).