Sean Stephenson

"Mom ran her fingers through my sweaty hair and looked deep into my eyes. "Sean," she asked quietly, "is this going to be a gift or a burden?" A gift? A Gift? Gifts come on your birthday. You open them up and say "Woo hoo!" Was she crazy? But before I could say anything, something magical happened. Something I can't explain with science. My calling and purpose in life came and found me."

"I've been asked on many occasions, "Sean, don't you get used to the pain after a while?" "No," I reply, "at best, I understand how to control it." Surprisingly, the physical pain of the condition has not been as torturous as the emotional pain."

"My parents did a tremendous job in raising me and my sister. It seemed as if they always had just the right things to say to us. One nugget of wisdom that empowered me through most of my teens was this: "Sean, there are many things you won't be able to do in your life because of your physical condition, so get busy finding the things you can do.""