Our Story
What is interesting here, particularly in light of where this presentation will end, is Madeline's hesitancy to send the link. She didn't really know us at all, and she was sincerely concerned with causing us undue panic. In interviews with Inside Edition, Reader's Digest, USA Today and other publications, Madeline consistently references the difficulty she faced in composing this email. [Note 1] We can read it, too. The phatic and tense introductory lines seeking to form some trace of identification, the awkward and impossible transition, the repeated avoidance of certitude. But, fortunately, courageously, miraculously she did send the link.
Which brings us back to the grumpy husband, the hysterical wife, and the shaking laptop.
My immediate response (likely ironic to anyone familiar with my research agenda) was, "Are you going to trust everything you read on the internet?" I was annoyed. Not because my daughter might have some long, impossible-to-pronounce disease. I knew my daughter was fine. I was annoyed because I knew my morning of shoes and ice cream was about to be suffocated by an unnecessary trip to the doctor's office.
I WAS WRONG.