I am an Ordinary Girl

I am an ordinary girl about to do something extraordinary. My name is Aidan Sullivan, I am fifteen years old and I was born in Idaho and recently moved to a small town in New Jersey with my mom, dad, and brother. I have always loved to write and would love to see my name on the New York Times Best Seller list one day. Last year, my essays on  “Life in the Middle” were published as an ongoing column in the local print newspaper. It was a series of short stories about life as a middle school student. I was awarded 1^st place student columnist at 2010 The Idaho State Press Awards, which was an incredibly inspiring achievement.

I have also had a few battles. Two years ago I was diagnosed with severe scoliosis, which is an abnormal curvature of the spine. It seemed like everything in my body was in some way affected by my deformity, from chronic pain to poor circulation. http://www.teenscolinet.org/geninfoscoliosis.html

Nine months ago I had my spine fused from top to bottom using two metal rods and twenty-nine titanium screws. I was out of school for six weeks and had serious restrictions for six months. This was the largest struggle I have ever been through but there are other girls who have been through worse. From girls we hear about on the news in Afghanistan who face death treats for voicing their opinion to young girls all over the world who are diagnosed with incurable diseases, there are girls all over the world who struggle with things on a daily basis that would trump challenges like my scoliosis. Though scoliosis seemed like a hardship to me, to others it might not have been so bad and realizing how much worse it could be made me feel better.

 Since November 11^th I have been traveling around the world to work on a project called Mighty Fingers Facing Change http://www.mightyfingersfacingchange.com/ which is designed to unify and empower girls through art. The more I travel and interact with these girls, the more I realize the intensity and reality of some of the cruelty and gender inequality that women and girls face, particularly in third world countries. I am excited to share their stories with you as I travel around the world.

Behind the Scenes

Hi everyone, and Happy New Year! Now that you know a little about Dr. D. I thought you might like to know the person behind the scenes! You know, when you click on “contact us” and you think your email is going into the netherworld…..well really it’s coming to me.


While many of you may have found our website because you are familiar with Dr. Dellasega’s work, others of you may be like me and more or less stumbled upon it. I met Cheryl through a mutual friend, Kathy Peffer, who is the head of our local Communities That Care organization http://www.ldsd.org/ctc. I am a stay-at-home mom (and proud of it!) who willingly gave up her career to focus on raising my two kids. Recently I started dipping my toe back into the workplace waters, and agreed to teach several courses offered through the CTC for our school district. It was my way of staying in touch with my background as well as giving back to the community that I live in. So, to wind up the story I met Cheryl, she was looking for someone to do some work for her company, we hit it off and here I am.


Cheryl mentioned that you might like to know a little more about me. Well, as I said I’m a wife and mom first and foremost. I am probably more involved in my kids school than any sane parent – I chair several committees which include the yearbook and our Publication Center. I love to read – if anyone is looking for a good book I recommend The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, it really makes you think about what fairy tales might be based upon (http://www.amazon.com/True-Story-Hansel-Gretel-Survival/dp/0142003077).


I will gladly help answer any questions you might have about the website or Dr. Dellasega’s work – I can’t promise that I will have the answers immediately but I am fearless when it comes to finding out what I need to, and I can promise you that I will not leave your questions unanswered.

Beth

Who is...Dr. D & Me?

Who is...Dr. D & Me? You might wonder what this new entity "Dr D and Me" is all about...here's a short history.

Dr D is:*

Friend: Lifetime
Book addict: Lifetime
Student: Lifetime
Sister: 50 + years
Swimmer: 40 years
Mom: 32 years
Professor: 27 years
Author: 11 years
Grandmom: 6 years
Widow: 3 years
Novelist: 2 years
Blogger: 2 hours
New Wife: 2 weeks

"And Me"(That would be all of you, since there wouldn’t be a Dr. D without the folks below):

Patients: 30 years
Clients: 27 years
Colleagues: 25 years
Mothers: 20 years
Women at risk: 15 years
Incarcerated women: 14 years
Teenagers: 13 years
Dads & Other Adults Who Care About Girls: 14 years
Media: 12 years
Book readers: 11 years
Women in Uganda: 7 years
Nurses: 6 years

Welcome everyone!

We hope you enjoy the new posts we will begin adding shortly - the blog is back and it will be better than ever!