Thursday, April 26, 2006, Barrow, Alaska (Temp. 17 degrees)~

Dear Journal~

Hi! This is your Inuk friend, Sikik Eegeesiak, writing. I am sorry if I haven't written in here for a long time, but my health has been agrravating, and it seems that I have been having more bad days than good, particularly with my multiple sclerosis.

I have joined a multiple sclerosis support group here in Northern Alaska, and it is quietly comforting to know that I am not the only one suffering from the debilitating effects of this illness. I have hope for the first time, and I am in a much better frame of mind.

The weather is starting to warm up (it has gotten up to the upper teens; a few weeks ago we were sitting in single digits, and a fwe weeks before that, we were having subzero temps), and the days are starting to get longer. Pretty soon it will be the time for the Long Day, where the sun shines for most hours in the day. We won't see much of the Northern Lights during this period, and the tundra will start greening up; really pretty to see.

I saw my doctor at the clinic, Dr. Utuqulu'uk, and he gave me some pain medication for my fibromyalgia. It seems to be helping; I am sleeping better at night, and I don't seem to be in so much misery. I am able to function better, and my mood has lifted considerably.

I have a boyfriend. Yes, I do! I met him at a MS support meeting (his sister has MS), and he and I have spent some good times together. He has taken me to a movie, and he has taken me downtown to watch the auroras and watch the wildlife on the tundra. His name is Osuitok Yaw Quppapik; like me, he is Inuk, and he is strong in his beliefs as I am. He just hasn't done as much (or seen as much) as I have, and he sees me as something of an Enigma. *grins*

Well, I will go now. I am going to see if I can get something to eat; seems that I have to go to the town store for some food. I am running low; haven't eaten much except for canned beans or whale blubber that my neighbor Titaniq brought to me the other day, and I am getting tired of whale blubber...I need something more substantial and something more tasteful...

See you soon! May the Sprits bless you always with all the Things that you desire in life!

~Love, your Inuk friend, Sikik Grace Eegeesiak. :)