Amicus Banquet

Spencers sister Alisa invited us to a banquet at the little america where she was asked to be a special guest speaker. As you probally read earlyer in my blog we almost lost her due to a rare heart condition she has. The banquet was sponcered by Amicus and the Deseret foundation. They donate money to hospitals in Utah for resherch on heart conditions among other things. The Small pump that was put into alisa heart that saved her life while she was delivering her baby lily was made possible by the money donated from Amicus and the Deseret Foundation. She Gave the most amazing talk! It was hard to hold back tears.

Alisa's Talk:

In our blackberry world, I am somebody who has a calendar made of paper. I would rather go see somebody than call them, let alone email them or text message them. Today humor is conveyed with '"lol" for lots of laughs, but I like to recognize the sound of someone's laugh, and be able to identify them unseen across a room. I think those goofy cellphone earpiece things make people in airports look like asylum escapees, walking, talking and laughing to themselves. I like licked mail, and stationary with my name printed on it. I like knowing someone's signature. I like pens. So the notion of speaking on behalf of new technology and reaserch is a little foregin to me. I am alive to because of it, so it is rapidly becoming my new best friend.

I really wasn't sure how to start out tonight and my Mom always says when all else fails, remember your manners. so I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Alisa Barnard and I am a wife and a mom to 4 wonderful children. Four children means a busy mommy, which is my primary mission at this time with sons who are 13, 10 and almost 3 and a new daughter. When I am not on the mommy clock, I'm usually reading or googling information about heart failure or spending time with my husband.

I am not someone who is particularly fast or talented in anything specific. I can't talk much about medical terms or procedures or dive into a great discusions about business or politics. But here is what I do know, and maybe this relates to you too; I LOVE living. Give me a slow, plodding, painful day. Give me a zippy, light on my feet, springy morning. Give me a downpour of emotions. Give me a day with my children. Give me a day with my husband. 0

I cannot pinpoint the exact moment when living every day transitioned from a slow, weighed down 'have to,' to an ' I can't wait to.' But it did. And something happened for me as a woman, as a mom, and as a wife...all at once.
So to understand me, and why I'm even at this event (because I feel like Forrest Gump in the background photos of all the famous world events), first of all you have to understand why I want to live. It's the hardest and easiest question for me. It's just like asking you to describe why you love someone. That one for me is easier. You love someone because of all the precious moments you have spent together, because of all the ways they understand you, the subtle acts of kindness and grace they offer you, the ways they accept you good and bad, the way they offer you insight when you are stuck in a bad place, the way they keep you humble and make you feel great all at the same time, the way their presence is your insurance that you will never be numb...because you are at ease in their company, because they lead you to your truest self.

Why do I want to live, because I can't imagine not. I can't imagine not being a mother or friend

If being a mother was a form of writing then my children would be my love letter. Being a mother has taken me in, and continues to comfort, heal and challenge me in all kinds of magical ways. I am not a 'good mother' because I am me. I am a good 'me' because I am a mother. My children make me want to be here. They make me want to hold on. My children need me and I need them.

So when we connect tonight, however impersonal this medium might seem, there is nothing impersonal about anything when I relate it to living. I am alive as a direct result from the reaserch and medical advances that take place because people care enough to give. This means all thoes donations in the past are connected to my family, my spiritual life, my fitness, my friendships, my health, my sanity, my peace.