Radosti
04-26-2006, 08:21 PM
Well, a few days ago was the 1 year anniversary of Rocky's passing. He was an amazing dog, a one in a lifetime soul-dog for me. I feel him every day and I know that he's still around, watching over my little family. Still, I can't believe how much life has changed in that year. Aaron is a healthy, happy baby. I know Rocky made sure of that There was so much possibility for this baby to not be healthy - my Ashkenazi genetics, my family history of heart defects, and not the least of which, my exposure to radiation after Chernobyl. But, with Rocky watching over my pregnancy from above, all the tests came back normal and Aaron was born as perfect as a baby can be
That thought brings me to another anniversary, another sad one...
It was 20 years ago that Chernobyl exploded. I was 9.5 years old and all of a sudden there was no going outside, we were downing charcoal pills to clear toxins from our systems. I remember being sent to the Black Sea for 2 months to get away from the radiation cloud hanging over my city. My immune system plummeted and I started getting sick all the time.
As I grew up, all I could think of were the images of horribly deformed kids born in the wake of Hiroshima/Nagasaki. You see, in Anti-American propaganda, those images were shown on Soviet TV quite often. The mothers of those children were exposed to massive amounts of radiation as well. What would my kids look like?
My great dane, Diana, died a few years later of a brain tumor. It was likely a result of radiation exposure. She wasn't even born yet at the time of the explosion, but a year later. But radiation lingers. Life seemed bleak. Seems Chernobyl followed us to the US, there was no escaping it.
However, last year, after I got pregnant, an amazing thing happened. Not only did Aaron develop normally, but my battered immune system began to restore itself. I stopped getting sick at the drop of a hat.
It seems like life brings renewal to all things. So, as time passes by, old scars fade...
That thought brings me to another anniversary, another sad one...
It was 20 years ago that Chernobyl exploded. I was 9.5 years old and all of a sudden there was no going outside, we were downing charcoal pills to clear toxins from our systems. I remember being sent to the Black Sea for 2 months to get away from the radiation cloud hanging over my city. My immune system plummeted and I started getting sick all the time.
As I grew up, all I could think of were the images of horribly deformed kids born in the wake of Hiroshima/Nagasaki. You see, in Anti-American propaganda, those images were shown on Soviet TV quite often. The mothers of those children were exposed to massive amounts of radiation as well. What would my kids look like?
My great dane, Diana, died a few years later of a brain tumor. It was likely a result of radiation exposure. She wasn't even born yet at the time of the explosion, but a year later. But radiation lingers. Life seemed bleak. Seems Chernobyl followed us to the US, there was no escaping it.
However, last year, after I got pregnant, an amazing thing happened. Not only did Aaron develop normally, but my battered immune system began to restore itself. I stopped getting sick at the drop of a hat.
It seems like life brings renewal to all things. So, as time passes by, old scars fade...