Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Scoliosis in the family tree

Scoliosis was pretty easy to live with when it didn't hurt. Somehow, with all the twisting and bending of my spine, it didn't hurt until I got older and probably more inflexible. 

It hurts today. Between my shoulder blades on the right side of my spine it feels as though someone thrust a knife. Often it's like this, hurting right there, making me consider I might be a victim of betrayal. 

My mom has the same sort of curve, her's leans to the left, whereas mine leans to the right. Both present themselves at T4, and secondary waves roll up the neck and down the lower back. 

My great-grandfather on my mom's side of the family was a character I understand. And it seems like this flaw was handed down through his blood line. I never got to meet the man, but I heard stories about him and even read about him in an obscure Utah history book.

This much I know; He was the Sheriff of Juab County, Utah in the last part of the 19th century and into the 20th century. His name was Daniel Joseph Cronin. His wife, Sarah Ferguson and he had altogether 13 children. My maternal grandmother, Margaret Louise Lucas, was their oldest child. This great-grandfather rode his horse throughout the county for his business as the sheriff. Once he even rode all the way to Idaho, stalking a murderer who'd stabbed someone to death. While it's awe-inspiring to think about riding into another state in order to perform such a function, it's even more astounding to hear he did it all while wearing a metal brace he'd been given for the purpose of holding up his crooked spine. I firmly believe people were different back then, that kind of dedication and perseverance seems elusive in this age. Someone once told me I had an aura of capability and determination about me. Maybe I got this from Dan, but chances are not I think...those kinds of traits coming from personality rather than by blood lines. 

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