Excellent photographs! I glanced at that first one as I paused from reading the text. I thought it was a high altitude view of a coastline and couldn't figure out what was in front of the boat.
There is a huge difference between suffering and dealing with pain. I've known people that took the chemical way out (drugs-prescribed and not) then use the pain as the rationalization for victimhood. I've known people that suffer hard to imagine pain everyday and soldier along to the best of their ability.
I know which of the above choices I choose to spend time with...
I really hope smallsteps is OK. Really nothing like having a sick child to see how your (my) mental health is.
Ha, I didn't see that til you mentioned it. It reminded me of the machines from the Matrix.
One of my friends here who passed away (@wolfhart) battled pain for years until cancer finally took him. Not once did I ever hear him really complain about the pain, his lot in life, his exposure to chemicals while serving and was always polite and friendly, despite his own conditions. People like him are rare.
She'll be fine soon enough - she seems to get these fevers often though -it is a bit of a worry.