Mother Writes about Lowell G. Evans and "The Village"

LETTER OF APPRECIATION FOR "LOWELL G. EVANS

TO: Theresa Bowick, Conkey Cruisers


FROM: Tonya McKinney

DATE: December 17, 2013

RE: Lowell Evans and Epilepsy

Not sure where to begin except to say that our lives changed in 2010 when epilepsy entered our world. At the time, our 13 year old daughter had her second grand mal seizure within an 8 month period. After five days and many tests from her wonderful new doctor and neurologist (Dr. Toor) from the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter in Norfolk, VA the diagnosis was given and a prescription shared. That was the easy part.

The difficulty began with Lauren being withdrawn. Because the seizure happened at a church lock-in, many teens witnessed the episode and were frightened. Many didn’t understand and became distancing themselves. Lauren had no recollection of the event and decided to retreat to the safe harbor of home. All extra activities and interests outside the home disappeared, as did most of the friends to come swim in the pool, hang out and ride bikes. Life as a "normal" teenager didn’t seem anything close to "normal" anymore.

Lauren began online friendships and felt safe there. She didn’t have to tell anyone about epilepsy, they didn’t know her and weren’t there that day. We also moved into a new house and new school, hoping that would help. Unfortunately only the location changed…epilepsy was still there at 8pm when we would take the daily dose of medicines to keep the seizures from returning.

One day at a community luncheon prior to a doctor’s visit to celebrate 2 years seizure free, we were told of Mr. Lowell Evans. A few days later Mr. Evans came to our home to share his story. This was the first time Lauren opened up to talk to someone about epilepsy, her lack of motivation in school or desire to leave her safe harbor of home. He gave her a copy of his book but more importantly shared with her that he has epilepsy, but it doesn’t have him. She smiled and opened up a bit. They became friends and he a source of support for her.

Mr. Evans has called many times on Lauren to encourage her to share her story, which ultimately is a story of God’s love and compassion through all. We like to say we are a work in progress kind of like a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly. As a faithful family, this strength is supported daily and encouraged to be what God desires, despite an epilepsy diagnosis and what others may think. We now look at epilepsy as an opportunity for perhaps a totally different plan in helping educate others in the future…coincidentally the very same idea Mr. Evans has! (At our house we don’t believe in coincidences, but rather the hand of God.)

I could go on and on about our gratitude for Mr. Evans. For the first time I see Lauren opening up, reading on epilepsy and actually talking about what has changed our lives. We try not to look at the negatives or fear the unknown, but rather try to bring good from this diagnosis. I hope you will find this helpful. We feel very blessed to have met Mr. Evans and look forward to spreading the word of epilepsy.