Their beautiful faces grace the cover of today's Parade magazine. Their story is being read by MILLIONS. They are Susan and Lauren Axelrod; wife and daughter of David Axelrod, President Obama's closest advisor.  At last, faces of epilepsy that will reach countless numbers of people who may be ignorant about the condition, or act ignorant when confronted with someone who has it. It could be my family's story---much of it is actually;  words and phrases similar to some within my book Missing Michael leaped off the pages in Parade today..."life shakily returned to a new normal..." How often I've decribed our "normalcy" of not being so normal at all----such is the way daily life is with the spectre of a seizure looming. Or, " Lauren suffered at least 25 seizures a day..." I remember the morning  fourteen years ago as clearly as if it was yesterday, the day I stopped counting Michael's seizures at 26---before NOON.  

I wrote Missing Michael for several reasons: to educate and inform about epilepsy, to increase understanding and compassion toward those with it, to dispel myths, and to describe the life of not only the child with a chronic illness but to share a family's experience in the hope it would help others to realize one does not have to go this battle alone. I know I have succeeded to a certain degree and I am grateful for that. But in reality, my circle of influence is pretty limited.

But today, because of the Axelrod's, I am filled with hope. There is a voice. It is committed, caring, passionate. The voice is driven by something I understand only too well. David Axelrod put it this way..."nothing can match the anguish of the mom of a chronically ill child...but Susan turned that anguish into action." May she inspire an army of moms to do the same. 

As Michael's mother, I can only echo Susan Axelrod's hoped for outcome: "Complete freedom from seizures-without side effects-is what we want."

BLESS YOU Susan Axelrod! For more info about what Susan has done, visit her organization CURE online at cureepilepsy.org. For more information about epilepsy visit www.epilepsyfoundation.org. To read about epilepsy from a mother's perspective consider Missing Michael.