acogs53

Pretty much everyone I know but me had the swine flu that year. My AP Econ class had about 14 kids in it, and one week, there were only 5 of us in the class for a couple of days because everyone else was out with swine flu. That was in fall '09. My brothers got it, brought it home to my parents. My dad didn't have a full-blown case of it; he was only ill for a couple of days. But my mom had to go to the hospital with a heart murmur. I count myself lucky because I was literally surrounded by the virus and never caught it. I don't think most people realized how many intense cardio problems were caused by this flu.

How did your brother influence your choices in life?

I don't know what country you are in (I'm guessing Canada), but Neutrogena's Baby Pure and Free actually keeps me COOLER in the sun. It's zinc oxide and titanium dioxide (I believe), so NOTHING penetrates that barrier. You can get non-baby marketed sunscreens of the same formulation. It's amazing the difference I've noticed since I started using that formula.

I'm guessing by your username and post history that you live in Atlanta; I apologize if this is wrong, but if it's right, I too miss 99x. In ATL, I feel like we have many local organizations that educate the public about and help those in modern slavery. Passion City Church has spawned the #ENDIT movement, which has actually seen not just social media presence, but monetary donations and helped give input on legislation, via Sen. Bob Corker. Maybe it's just in my local circle, but I know many people who are involved with these orgs and I think because of that, we've seen more stories by the media. Since 2012, I have seen a drastic uptick in local stories and national stories on human trafficking and slavery. I think there's a correlation between local awareness in a subgroup with power of the issue and the amount of coverage it receives.

Heyyyy then I'm doing it right!