save the dates!!

I have many dates of the year that have great importance to me. You would think its hard to keep track of, but they were all very huge moments in my life. The most obvious date is my birthday. After that is the day my journey began and that day is November, 7, 2008. The next day I remember as a day with great importance, is the day my tumor was removed by doctor Jones in a 14 hour surgery. That was February, 14, 2009. After that, June 9, 2011. This is the date of my BMT birthday! (you call it your bone marrow birthday because it is a day that you have been infused with new life and its as if you were born again) This june will be my 4th BMT birthday!! After that everything blurs together as a clusterfuck of issues and surgeries. There is one more date that I have stored in my memory as one of the biggest decisions of my life. This date is April, 18, 2014. On April 18th I decided to become vegetarian. This was a huge deal for me because I had finally made a change in my life that I CAN CONTROL. No one else is making me do it. I don't have to do it for my health. I don't have to do because my life depends on it. Being Vegetarian is my thing!! I chose it and I support it with all my being. So when april 18th rolled around, I found the satisfaction in knowing that I have made this decision and stuck with it for a whole year! Obviously there were times where I made exceptions, and times where I almost gave up just for a smoked pork taco that Oakleigh's dad makes. In those moments I remind myself that I chose this, and that though my life doesn't depend on it, millions of other lives depend on it. I am vegetarian for the lives and souls of all the animals that have been labeled as non-sentient beings and instead of being called a pig they are called pork. Or instead of a cow, they are named beef. INSTEAD OF BABY COW, THEY CALL THEM VEAL. The list goes on! I don't see a difference in snuggling with my kitty and snuggling with a piglet. It's not about Peta's graphic videos, its about the facts. Did you know that dairy cows are constantly raped in order to keep them full of milk and as soon as their calf is born the baby is torn away from its mother! If the calf is a girl, she is raised to be just as her mother was, a milk machine. If however the calf is a boy he is locked in a confined area where he can not walk or move so that his muscles are tender for slaughter. I could go on forever but I am the type of vegetarian that lives and lets live. I am not telling you all of this to convert you. I am explaining to you my reasoning for doing what I do, in hopes that maybe ON YOUR OWN, you will see how important it is to not eat other beings. I hope that you will see that chickens are slaughtered at less that 6 weeks of life. (that doesn't even count as life) You are eating babies. Veil, lamb, chicken they are all infants. I hope that you also know about the impact on our environment of the meat and dairy industry. 51% of greenhouse gases are from industrial farms. The amount of waste that seeps into the ground ruins the ground water. It takes 1700 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef.. One cannot be an environmentalist and still eat meat.
Anyway... these are the main reasons I do what I do and that doesn't even add the health benefits.
As I have hit my one year mark, im going to kick myself in the butt a little and become fully vegan. If for any reason you do not agree, I suggest you research your concerns to know the facts. I am so thankful for everyone who has supported me so far in this decision and I look forward to the rest of my life appreciating other lives, not only by being vegan but by reaching out and getting to know the other beings that share the earth with us. I could never imagine biting into a hamburger ever again. Again thank you for your support and know that this is an option for you as well!!