If you have read my blogs or seen my videos on the "Generations" page you know that I have been talking a lot about how important our family and our friends are to our success as martial artists and to our lives in general. I have talked about struggles throughout this testing process and obstacles that I have faced so far. But today took the kind of endurance that, as a parent, you don't realize that you are being trained for until something happens to your child. Today made my marathon endurance training seem like small potatoes. Holding all the fear and the tears in so your child doesn't see it and get scared is indescribably difficult. My son has been ill since yesterday, so I took him to the Tuality ER early this morning after a horrible night and neither one of us getting any sleep. It turns out that he has to have his appendix removed and depending on the status of whether or not it has burst, he will have to spend a minimum of 2 days in the hospital. We all have choices and awful things that happen, but keep in mind that we need to take care of our family no matter how much it messes with our routines or schedules. My son is in surgery right now, so this journal will be the most personal one that I write all year. This is me with my shield down.