They say everyone has a story...
Here is mine.

I had always been sickly child. No one understood why. What was the matter with me? Why did I get ill so easily? Why did I always have that "death-warmed-over" feeling?

I experienced migraines daily, I felt sick to my stomach at least three times a week to the point of losing my meals. I was so tired that I could literally go to bed and sleep for over 15 hours and wake up feeling like I had not gone to bed at all. My mind was foggy. To say the least, my track record for attendance at my job was quickly declining. I had always been a hard worker, this was not normal for me. It was hard to accept. It made me mad. It made me cry. It made me decide to get some answers.

I began telling people about my ill health. Surprisingly I found many, many women who shared the same physical symptoms. I was a cosmetologist so I was with other women in great numbers on a daily basis. These women began telling me of something I had only heard about but never thought once of myself having it. CFS. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Me? NO! Not possible! I am too, too....type A! Well, hello. Those are the very people it likes to hit! I was a "sitting" target. I had had many, many colds as a child. Chicken Pox hit me really hard. I contracted the Herpes virus. Same virus as Chicken Pox. I had several episodes where the doctor could not tell if I had mononucleosis or just a bad case of strep throat. I had measles as an older teenager. The list of illnesses just grew and grew with my age. I began reading. LOTS! About CFS. No doubt, this is what I had. So I began treating myself. You see, back in the early 90's, CFS was thought to be an "all in your head" kind of "illness". Gee thanks. So not only was I experiencing what felt like real illness, I was so creatively-minded that I was actually creating my own illness! Ok. Wonderful explanation. So I thought, "Well, then, I will create my own wellness then too." I began following all of the suggestions in all of the books I read. From modifying my daily intake of get-it-now food drive-thru's to extracting all chocolates and sugars out of my diet. I went to bed early. Got up on time and exercised. I drank gallons of water each and every day. I began purchasing every supplement on the market and actually taking them too! Wheat? Out of my diet. Soy? Out of my diet. Corn? Out of my diet. But chocolate, oooh that was a hard one. But I did it! Cigarettes? Gone. Alcoholic beverages? Gone.

All of this helped. To a degree.
There was something else. Something I was missing. I had this strange feeling down deep in my gut that it was my blood. After all, why would I have myself tested for AIDS if I didn't suspect something with my blood? No one in my family had ever been diagnosed with a blood problem. Why would I even think it?

It gnawed at me, day and night. I didn't know where to turn. No one would believe me. Remember? According to medical doctors, "I thought up my own CFS". Then my daughters began having female problems very similar to the kind I had when I was younger which eventually lead to my hysterectomy at age 26. One of the doctors we all visited one day had some very interesting news for us. He said that we could quite possible have a blood disorder that was causing our problems. Blood? Disorder? Hmmm.

We were all tested for it. $3500.00 later, just for me alone, yes, I had a blood disorder.

Well this was just the sentence I needed. NOT!

Well, long story short, I have this rare, genetic blood disorder. Although "they" are finding it is not as rare as they once thought it to be. Gee. Just like the CFS I guess. There is absolutely no way to cure it. There is no way to successfully treat it. It is THE precursor to almost every known illness, disorder and disease known to mankind. What is it?

Hyperhomocysteinemia.

There's a mouthful for you.
It's a blood clotting disorder.

My organs (heart, liver, skin, pancreas, kidneys, etc, etc, everything) don't receive the proper nutrition or the right amount of oxygen at any time.

My health steadily declined. No energy. My mind was active, but my body wouldn't follow. I became more and more sensitive to foods. I finally had to buy only organic foods because I became MCS. That's multiple chemical sensitive. Between working in a salon all of those years and eating all of the fast foods, now knowing I had this blood disorder and CFS, my body was so over-taxed it was literally self-destructing. I was told that my body was dying faster than most people my age at a slow rate of death. Huh? It simply means that my body is dying faster than my age. But it is dying slowly. I was told that because of my blood clotting I could literally drop dead at any moment. Fun.

Well, this certainly makes for an interesting chat over dinner. Now what?

I applied for SSD and immediately received it with my first application. For those of you who have applied and re-applied more times than you change your, well, you know. Then you understand the significance of me receiving benefits the first time around!

I became very depressed. I HAD to find a way to remain a vital part of society. I began searching deep within my heart. What had I always wanted to do but didn't because of "ought's"? You know, I "ought" to do this, I "ought" to do that.
Animals! Animals has always been my passion. Women. Hurting women. They had always been my concern. Under-dogs. People who don't get a fair shake. They had always been my passion.

My husband and I decided we needed to put our lives in perspective and get crackin"!

That was about the time my husband's father had suffered the death of his wife of 52 years. He wanted to move in with us so that he would not be alone. He sold his house and invested the total sum of money into our dream, our mission, our passion.
Today, myself and my husband work this business/organization.

We are building, with the help of many others who share a similar passion, a network where privately owned and operated animal sanctuaries can join together under one name to benefit the globe of homeless, helpless, abandoned and forgotten animals. In addition, we believe we are somehow ministering to these people who take in these animals. Most of these people are women. Could it be that they too have this deep desire in their hearts to be a functional part of society even though they may be, disabled, low-income, abandoned themselves? Maybe they are mere dedicated women who love too deeply and they need an outlet for the abundance of love that flows from their hearts? What about the people who give of their time and money just because. No certain reason. Just because. They could certainly do something else with their time and money. But they choose to make a difference in the world.

These are those BirD-elicious! is all about.

Why do we do what we do? Because each and every human is supposed to leave this earth having made a difference. That is why. BirD-elicious! and all of our team-players will have done that by the time this decade ends. And then, our business/organization will be passed on to those who believe in our mission and wish to further the global cause to 'walk-the talk'" to aid the animals who need the humans who need the animals.

Join us, please, to help in the global walk to feed and house the animals and their earthly companions who need to be needed at least once before they die, the humans.

You see, it is my passion, I was one of those women who needed to be needed.

Now I have a place I can call my own where I can make a difference!

You can too!

BirD-elicious!