I never had imagined that I would be a grandmother of 7 going on 8! In 2006, my first granddaughter was born. Lily is the light of my life, of her parents life and of the family's life. A few months later, we were to find out that she had acquired the deadly spinal muscular atrophy gene, type 1. As a nurse of 30 years, I was surprised that I had never heard of this disease. According to doctors, she would probably not live to be two years old. Not only has she lived to two, she has lived to six and she now has twin siblings, Harrison and Abby, who are healthy and typical siblings. Harrison and Abby were born in March 2008, close to the same time as Nancy's twins and in that I feel a kinship. Attached is a picture Lily and me and also one of the twins' first day of school this year. Lily has also obtained four cousins, with another on the way! I am truly blessed! 1 in 49 people carry the deadly gene for SMA. For more information on Spinal Muscular Atrophy, go to http://fsma.org.