Love Kleenex with lotion, hate it for my glasses.

Zakaria is cuurently in his counseling session and I am in the waiting room. I can hear his voice, shocking, I know. Luckily, I can’t hear what he is actually saying because I want this to be his time to share his feelings without me being in the room. I also can only imagine the look his therapist would give me when Zakaria explained he gets annoyed when I reorganize his organization. I went up to Frederick today to meet up with another Aplastic Anemia Warrior Mama. First of all, I love Frederick. I also now love Dublin Coffee Roasters. As I walked down Market Street and remembered touring Monocacy Battlefield with an old co-worker, I thought about how we went to the Rails and Roads Museum with the boys and how awesome it was seeing seeing the minitature train display. I am thinking a bit more about my meeting with the AA Mama. I would like to think I taught her what a latte was and the difference between South Asian and Middle Eastern and I know she taught me to make sure people are aware of the importance of medical research and how it impacts everyone. I listened as she told me her memories of my Hadi talking fast (a family trait) and how it was obvious there were so many incredible ideas in that beautiful bald head of his. We also talked about how Aplastic Anemia forced us into a world we didn’t want to know existed. I freaking hate that I know what Cyclosporine is, I hate cringing at anything being weighed in kilograms as it reminds of Hadi having to step on the scale at NIH. I hate that I kinda want a Big Mac even though I only eat zabiha and I hate that our President is ok with serving hamberders to national champions. I have tried not to be political but come on. I usually don’t allow my kids to use the word hate but Hadi allowed me to say that I hated granulocytes. I mean, it’s a love-hate relationship. Granulocytes allowed me to be with son a bit longer. They exist because of medical research. The Hadi Abdur Rasheed Research Fund will allow more Aplastic Anemia Mamas (and Papas and awesome siblings) to have more time with their loved ones. Seriously, I need to bring tissues with me wherever I go. Who has connections with Kleenex? Better yet, who has connections to Poe and can explain the importance of supporting the Research Fund?