My friend Amy and I go back a ways...a LONG ways. She's seen me at my worst, listened to my hysterics, and has been woman enough to tell me when I'm being stupid and paranoid. She's been my friend...for more than 10 years.
For as long as we've been friends and for a while before that, her mother has had MS. At first, it was just a known fact. If you knew Amy, then you knew her mother had MS. Then it became a harsh reality as we watched her mother slowly deteriorate. The thing about MS is that it robs you of your body. Your mind is completely intact and sharp while your body just stops working. Amy’s mom continued to work as long as she could and even became a source of inspiration for others suffering the same disease as she wrote articles and letters about her disease. She inspired me without even knowing that she had. I’ve watched her, over the years succumbing to this disease, and just not giving up. She found love while confined to her wheelchair knowing that she physically couldn’t wrap her arms around him, but also knowing that mentally giving everything she had was well worth it. She’s a true woman in my eyes; filled with enough love to make everything okay…even though she’s facing what she’s facing.
Here's some more brief but sobering facts about MS:
- Over 400,000 Americans are currently living with MS, and someone is newly diagnosed every hour.
- MS usually strikes between the ages of 20 to 50.
- Two to three times as many women as men have MS.
- Having multiple sclerosis means that you may not be able to walk when you wake up. Or that you may suddenly have impaired vision. Or that your memory will fail you for no apparent reason. The symptoms of MS are different, and devastating, for everyone.
For my friend Amy's mother, MS has meant going from walking, to walking with a cane, to being wheelchair bound. There's no doubt Amy will someday lose her mother, and it will be sooner than her mother's intended time to go. I can't even come close to imagining what Amy's life will be like without her mother there.
So, over the next few weeks, I will be trying various different ways to try to raise money for the MS Lifelines Walk in
At the very least, I'm hoping that this post will inspire you to contribute - if not to this cause then to something equally as important. If we don't, as individuals, step up to try to make a difference because we assume someone else is already doing it, then we've become lazy, and our world is no better for it. Take a chance on a cause; a good and worthy cause and see how good it feels to make a difference in someone's life. You never know who's mother you can save :)
*Special thanks to Jenn at Mommy Needs Coffee for inspiring me to post this. She is currently supporting this cause as she has already lost her mother to MS. Check her out!!!
