Fun Monday #21

Our Hostess for this week's Fun Monday is the lovely Kitten.

Our assignment for this week is…Tell me about the Super Hero in your life. Not from TV, but anyone that has been or is in your life that you have really looked up to or has made a impact on your life. It can one or many. You can share pictures if you like. Just have fun with it.

If I called the two people that I'm about to mention "Heroes" they would more than likely have my guts for garters!! So I won't call them heroes. What I will say about them is that they are both people who are not only very good friends and people who have enriched my life by being a part of it, but who are people I admire greatly and who both have my utmost respect.

One will only get a brief mention because she reads this blog and I know that she hates any form of public praise or glory. Suffice to say that what she does for the dogs in her care she does because it comes from the heart. To her it's as natural as breathing. And in a world that has a tendency for self-centredness and self-glorification, this is a rare and special thing.

The second is my special friend Niki. On Christmas Day just over 6 years ago, I rang Niki to wish her a merry Christmas. She was suffering a migraine and not feeling too brilliant. The pain didn't go away and got progressively worse. Niki was eventually diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia. TN is thought to be among the most severe types of pain known to humanity, and the condition can bring about stabbing, mind-numbing, electric shock-like pain from just a light wind or a finger's glance of the cheek.

Niki has been through three operations to help ease the pain. Each operation has managed to achieve a measure of relief for only short periods of time but has never managed to get resolve the problem. And the pain always comes back. Niki had to give up a job she enjoyed and move home with her parents. She can no longer drive and has to rely on family and friends to get about when she needs to.

She lives every day with your worst nightmare of a migraine-type pain as well as the frequent stabbing pains that are typical of TN. The drugs she has to take to cope with that pain can leave her floating in la-la land and unable to function properly.

Yet she, and her body, have adjusted. Niki is doing her best to get on with her life despite the limitations the pain inflicts. With two like-minded and understanding friends, she is starting a business rehabilitating horses. She has qualified as a Bowen therapist and is a gifted animal communicator. She has learnt to work around the pain. She works early in the morning and then has to go back to bed for a good part of the day.

The last few months have been pretty bad, with the pain reaching new levels of intensity. But just yesterday she was telling me about a new horse that was arriving. "It's just the kick up the butt I need" she said. "I have to learn to cope with this new level of pain and get on with my life".

And that really sums Niki up. When the rest of us would be in a helpless heap on the floor, Niki picks herself up and makes herself get on with it and get through the pain one day at a time. And yet through all this, she still has time for me and my problems and for anyone else that needs her. If she can help, pain permitting, she will.

And I love her dearly.

Now, head on over to Kitten's place and see who else is participating in this week's Fun Monday.