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  I am Stacie Al-Chokhachi and I live in Moscow, Tennessee with my husband and partner in crime, David.  I am the very proud mother of two incredible children...well, three including my fantastic son-in-law, Jared. Marissa (24) is my oldest and she owns her own event planning company, POSH Event Planning in Collierville, TN. Dalton (15) is my youngest, my baby, and he is a huge video gamer and his service dog, Worth, is his very best friend! I love animals of all kinds and find great joy in spending any down time with my pet pig, Penelope, and pet chicken, Grace. They are just so easy to love!! I was once a very social person and had lots of "friends" but over the past ten years I have become much of an introvert and frankly, crowds and people bring me great anxiety. Jesus is the glue which holds me together for I am a hot mess! I have lived a life full of God's grace and that is where I draw my strength. He has carried me through many, many storms in my life and He will NOT leave me now... in the most destructive and terrifying storm I could have ever imagined. 

  This is where My Glorious Nightmare comes in. On August 24, 2010 my life changed with the sound of just three words...Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Life as I knew it came to an abrupt halt as did the majority of my hopes and dreams. You see, all I ever wanted as I was growing up was to be a mother and a wife. It was my number one goal in life and I was soooooo very blessed in September 1995 when my Marissa was born! She is my number one baby and I could not be any more proud of the woman, wife and business owner she is today! Fast forward to August 2004 and my Dalton was born! My life was going perfectly as I had my baby girl and now my baby boy! Oh my heart was so full and my mind continually carried me away to the many hopes and dreams I had for my beautiful children God gifted me with!! What would they become? Who would they date? Would they like sports? Would they be artistic? Would they be great students like David or just do what was required because socializing was way more fun? Where would they attend college? Who would they marry? Would they have families? How many children? And the list goes on and on.

  Duchenne shattered these dreams for my Dalton as he has been confined to a wheelchair since the age of nine. Now at fifteen, he has lost the majority of his arm strength and depends on me for every aspect of living. I bathe him, dress him, feed him, turn him, sit him up, roll him, wipe his tears, brush his hair, brush his teeth, help him use the restroom, scratch an itch...EVERYTHING! I love caring for him and he is the most special human I have ever known...seriously! Duchenne is 100% fatal with no cure and very few treatment options. For Dalton, there are no treatment options available...it has to do with DNA and is very complicated. the average life was in the teens but is now between 20-25 years of age yet there is no rhyme or reason as some boys don't make it beyond 10. It is a mystery to doctors and a nightmare to parents. 

  Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy rocked my world...STILL rocks my world each and every day. As my Dalton gets older I seem to have even more trouble balancing my thoughts. With a prognosis as grime as Duchenne's, the thought of Dalton slipping through my fingers is in the forefront of my mind every waking moment. At age six, when he was diagnosed and still walking, it seemed so far away...as if I had plenty of time with him. I now find myself of the downward slope of his life and writing is becominga vital necessity for me. I REFUSE to be a victim and I work very hard every day to find JOY in our journey. It is ALWAYS there as is God!! His soft whispers are there for me when I allow myself the quiet time to hear Him in this world that screams with distractions. 

  At the end of the day, I am truly so thankful for Duchenne. I am a better person because of Duchenne. My perspective is a hard one to live with and Lord knows I pray for my Dalton to be healed IN THE FLESH, but because of this journey...I wake up every day with one foot in heaven and one foot on earth...and I am able to LIVE ON PURPOSE in My Glorious Nightmare.

XOXO

Stacie