Living Life to the Fullest

Jumping off the log at Blue River (Kali Biru) with friends

Arthur Ashe (July 10, 1943-Feb 6, 1993), was a top-ranked American tennis player and winner of 3 Grand Slams. He died from AIDS-related pneumonia after receiving infected blood from a transfusion during a second heart-bypass surgery.  He once said, "If I were to say, 'God, why me?' about the bad things, then I should have said, 'God, why me?' about the good things that happened in my life."

In the same way, Daryl has never questioned why he should suffer from scoliosis. He has not let it slow him down, he has not used it as an excuse to not try new things, and he has not allowed it to limit his life in anyway. Very rarely does he let on how much the brace bothers him – on hot days, it gets pretty uncomfortable; on beach days, sand gets into his brace and chafes his skin; every day, he feels the tension of the brace on his body hindering his movements. But as the day of surgery approaches, we hear a lot more of, “After my surgery, I can do….”, and we can tell how much this means to him. We would certainly appreciate prayers that all will go well with the operation so that Daryl may better enjoy his life as a carefree teenager – something that many his age take for granted.