Sickle Cell Anemia is a horrible disease to an outsider looking in. However, to me, it is no different than any other life-threatening disease. The only difference is Sickle Cell Anemia does not get the much-needed recognition it truly deserves. People know little or nothing about the disease because it is not seen as important like other well-known diseases. I personally have an issue because I have Sickle Cell Anemia and have always been an advocate for it all my life. Sickle Cell has affected me as well many of my family members and there are quite a lot of other people in the world who suffer from Sickle Cell Anemia. There are so many people in the world who have sickle cell anemia or know someone who has it. I decided to write my personal story because it has been quite a journey for me as child, a teenager, young adult, and my middle-aged adult. I have had some good days, and some bad days, but God has kept me so, I want to complain. I feel as if I been on an emotional roller coaster that just took me on some highs and then lows over a million times, and the ride just will not stop. I have had some real good times on this roller coastal ride, and said "it's o.k. I can ride this to the wheels fall off. However, God will never, ever give me or anyone of us more than we can handle. I learned to weather the storm over the years. I have always been living according to what I expect my expiration date was going to be. I really thought that I was going to die when I was 17 years old. I lived my life everyday worried.
About the Author: I was born in Waco, Texas and we moved to California twice when I was a little girl. I grew up San Francisco, California and when I was seventeen years old, we moved to Sacramento, California. I moved back to Waco, Texas for almost three years and then I moved back to Sacramento, California. I have been writing since I was five years old. I started out writing poetry as a child and it stemmed into my adulthood. However, when I became an adult, I decided to write short children books, and a few fiction novels. I have always loved to write, because writing brings me peace as well as an escape from reality. I can become any character I want to be when I write I'm a youth director at my church and I have written several plays as well as poetry for the children who are apart of my youth group. I know I'm qualified to write this book because I have the actual disease and know a lot about it. I feel like sickle cell needs a lot more recognition than it actually gets. I have educated myself a lot and am aware of sickle cell anemia and how it affects people. I was born in Waco; Texas and I grew up San Francisco and also Sacramento California. I went to several schools, throughout my life. I have an AA degree in Early Childhood Education, BA degree in Psychology, and a Master's degree in Psychology, and a Post Master's certificate. I went to a four-year community college, and three online schools for my BA degree, Master's degree, and my Post Master's degree. I have been a preschool teacher for the past thirty years. I'm married and have been for the past six years, and I have one child.