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Don't make me turn this van around! RV Edition

One family. A difficult diagnosis. An RV. And a new lease on life.

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About this blog

Until late 2015, life was exceedingly normal for the Kile family: work, school, little league, ballet – sweating the small stuff and missing the big picture. Then Jon suffered a ruptured abdominal aneurysm that required life-saving surgery. It would be the first of seven surgeries over the next seven months, including emergency open-heart surgery to save him from an aortic dissection. He was eventually diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Sydrome, in which the most serious symptom is fragile arteries prone to spontaneous rupture. Jon has adjusted to a lifestyle which forbids him from strenuous activities and stress, while finding inner peace and humor against the backdrop of raising two feral children. Jon gave up business proposals and sales presentations for writing, car-line and PTA, while Monica traded committee meetings and budgets to take on the roles of patient advocate, genetics expert, cool mom and goddess of a 17 foot Dodge van. Together they’ve determined to “live in the moment” and fill the empty spaces in the calendar with family travel and adventure.

Featured Post: ‘Live in the moment’ because a moment may be all you have.

Before we got our sweet ride, I was a frequent passenger in another type of van.

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Played a little hooky from school this afternoon. #passagrillebeach #stpete #floridabeaches #americastopbeach #februaryweather

Smoothie time @squeezejuiceworks #bikeride #pictureperfectweather #stpete

McLeod Plantation. #mcleodplantation #jamesisland #charleston #southcarolina #familytravel

Streets of #charleston

Gas station kitch ghost town. #southoftheborder #southofthebordersc #thormotorcoach #rvlife

It wasn’t in our plan, but we had to head south away from the ice and find some sun. Beautiful park just outside Charleston, SC. We got in some school, I whipped up a good meal and we did night-school after dinner. #jamesislandcountypark #charleston #southcarolina #familytravel #roadschooling #stonoriver

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