When I was 9 my mom got bit by a tick. Her mother had just died and she had just been divorced. She got Lyme disease was in excruciating pain and bed ridden for

When I was 9 my mom got bit by a tick. Her mother had just died and she had just been divorced. She got Lyme disease was in excruciating pain and bed ridden for almost a year. She gained at least 100 pounds. I have very distinct memories of going into her room to just be with my mom and she would just be lying there in excruciating pain. As a kid I didn't really understand it and couldn't understand why she never wanted to do anything. Before she was very engaged and that year she just disappeared. Last year I was driving with my girl friend on a road trip. We stopped at a scenic view and picked some wild flowers. About an hour later I felt something crawling in my beard, discovered a tick before it bit thankfully but it got lost in the floor. I calmly told my girlfriend we have to stop it's an emergency. We promptly pulled over at the next exit and scoured that car and found the tick. Of course it was a spotted dear tick. We took a 30 minute breather and reflected on mortality. Really really scary! I was fortunate to have sensed it and found it before anything happened. So yeah ticks... It only takes one bite. That tick in very high likelyhood is carrying Lyme disease and that one bite will destroy your life. Worst of all... You probably won't even know it's there before it's too late.