I wound up not sleeping last night. My cab dropped me off at home at 12:15 am. I stayed awake, cleaned my apartment, got everything ready for the cats, and then at 4:00 am, I called a car service. I slept from the moment I buckled in on the plane to the moment the flight attendants rang the bell to signify we could remove our safety belts. I picked up my rental car, jaunted down the highway, and arrived at the site of the 2008 MS Walk just outside of Cleveland!
My mom taught me to read when I was three. Nearly every night as a child she would cuddle with me in my bed, holding a books in front of me so that I could see the words and follow along while she read them aloud. She has always been a great lover of books, and, like Salty said, my memory often includes her curled up and reading on the couch.
My mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis just after I moved to New Orleans in 2003. MS is a chronic disease of the nervous system that affects over 400,000 Americans. Nobody knows for sure what causes it, and there is no cure. In fact, the only treatment available are drugs that slow down the degeneration of myelin, the tissue that surrounds your neurons. It affects people in different ways and to various degrees. For a long time, MS rendered my mother almost completely blind. She, a woman of independence who raised two girls on her own, nearly lost her job because she could not see. She hasn't driven herself anywhere in five years. Worst of all, she can't read like she used to.
Over the last couple of years, my mom has actually gotten a lot better, thanks in part to the Cleveland Clinic, a world-class hospital with an excellent eye care center. She is still unable to drive, but luckily she has been able to keep her job because of very generous and understanding coworkers and employers (and setting her computer's desktop resolution so that it looks huge). She listens to books on tape and picks her way slowly through large print novels.
My optimism in the face of adversity is definitely inherited from my mom. She's the kind of woman who doesn't really ask for help, she just keeps on going and believing that everything will work out for the best. She's been through so much--she was my age when my dad died. She stayed with him and supported him through his disease, and after his death, she was the one who kept everything together for our family. At twenty seven she did this. And she stayed positive through it all. She somehow always manages to come out with a smile on her face.
Despite this great attitude and independence, it's been a big struggle for her, as it is for many people, and she's not used to asking for help or support from people--she's always supported herself. So when my sister decided to surprise her by putting together a team of her family and friends for this year's Walk for MS, the very least I could do was stay awake all night to make sure I didn't miss my flight! All in all, we had almost 30 people show up to support my mom, and we raised $1,600 to support research that, hopefully, will find a cure!
My mom taught me to read when I was three. Nearly every night as a child she would cuddle with me in my bed, holding a books in front of me so that I could see the words and follow along while she read them aloud. She has always been a great lover of books, and, like Salty said, my memory often includes her curled up and reading on the couch.
My mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis just after I moved to New Orleans in 2003. MS is a chronic disease of the nervous system that affects over 400,000 Americans. Nobody knows for sure what causes it, and there is no cure. In fact, the only treatment available are drugs that slow down the degeneration of myelin, the tissue that surrounds your neurons. It affects people in different ways and to various degrees. For a long time, MS rendered my mother almost completely blind. She, a woman of independence who raised two girls on her own, nearly lost her job because she could not see. She hasn't driven herself anywhere in five years. Worst of all, she can't read like she used to.
Over the last couple of years, my mom has actually gotten a lot better, thanks in part to the Cleveland Clinic, a world-class hospital with an excellent eye care center. She is still unable to drive, but luckily she has been able to keep her job because of very generous and understanding coworkers and employers (and setting her computer's desktop resolution so that it looks huge). She listens to books on tape and picks her way slowly through large print novels.
My optimism in the face of adversity is definitely inherited from my mom. She's the kind of woman who doesn't really ask for help, she just keeps on going and believing that everything will work out for the best. She's been through so much--she was my age when my dad died. She stayed with him and supported him through his disease, and after his death, she was the one who kept everything together for our family. At twenty seven she did this. And she stayed positive through it all. She somehow always manages to come out with a smile on her face.
Despite this great attitude and independence, it's been a big struggle for her, as it is for many people, and she's not used to asking for help or support from people--she's always supported herself. So when my sister decided to surprise her by putting together a team of her family and friends for this year's Walk for MS, the very least I could do was stay awake all night to make sure I didn't miss my flight! All in all, we had almost 30 people show up to support my mom, and we raised $1,600 to support research that, hopefully, will find a cure!
1 comment:
Aw, that's so sweet of your sister to organize it! Congrats on raising $1600!! Hopefully it'll go a long way. :)
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