Support is so much bigger than anything else!!!

Also last night I went out to dinner with my dad and my grandma (on my dad's side, not the one who is in the hospital) and my dad insisted on telling her about my documentary. At first I was hesitant about getting into details about it because this is the side of the family I was almost conditioned in a way to feel bad about telling when I was first diagnosed. But soon I realized that it was my dad who brought it up and if he wanted me to speak up about it then by golly that's exactly what I was going to do! Anyway she was so proud and excited about the documentary. She wants me to contact my older cousin who studies music in college and plays the guitar so he can maybe write some songs for it. I'll try to e-mail him about that soon. Anyway I sent her the trailer and this is the e-mail she sent back.


"I'm so impressed & excited for you. I watched the trailer twice & will send the link out to the family. We've (everyone in the family) all been wanting to support you, but haven't til now been able to acknowledge our feelings to you. I'm thrilled that you are taking the initiative to bring Tourette's into people's conversations and awareness. Our family believes in helping each other in whatever way that we can-sometimes silence is not golden.
 Can't wait to hear & see more of the Documentary.
Love,
  Grandma "

Getting this e-mail was like a wow moment. Wow, I have finally found a way to open up about my Tourette's to my extended family (who I am fairly close to) and for them to be proud and supportive with the support of my parents on the matter. Certainly a successful moment. This documentary has meant so much more to me than just making a documentary. It means that my parents are proud to show other people the trailer in and out of the family even if it requires me opening up about my TS. My parents and relatives have finally accepted Tourette's in our lives and I am so thankful for that. As my grandma says: sometimes silence is not golden.

Today a guy sitting next to me in class briefly imitated/ mocked my arm thrusting tic fairly obviously. The girl across the table got very upset and motioned for him to stop. I didn't even care about the guy imitating me one bit. There is so much support in my life now regarding my Tourette's that I could care less about the guy in class imitating me, or the people in the ice cream store staring at me, or the SAT teacher calling me out of ticcing, or the people who think TS is just about swearing! The support I have is so much bigger and compared to that, those little moments of ignorance are NOTHING.