Respectance.com

I attended a volunteer meeting a while back and noticed one of our members seemed a bit…well…drunk. She was slurring her words, and her speech just seemed somehow off. I didn’t say anything to anyone though. We’ve been known to tip a few glasses in this particular group, and I just figured that at the end of a tough day my friend had exceeded a ‘prudent’ limit.

Later that week I was speaking with another member of this group, and she had noticed the same thing. We made a few jokes about it, and carried on. After having been seen ‘in this state’ fairly frequently on and off over the next month, people began to realize there was a problem. There was, in fact a very big problem. It wasn’t alcohol though. Upon the urging of her family and close friends, she went for extensive testing. The diagnosis seemed to take forever. Finally it came, and with great sadness was shared. ALS it seems - Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Well, it’s been fully a year and a half since we heard the news. My friend carries on bravely with her life. She has a grace about her that I can only hope to have one day. Her friends are in the thick of planning a first annual fundraiser barn dance-with proceeds going to ALS of course. The going joke is no one will know if the guest of honor is drunk or not!

Most dispair with this diagnosis. Some continue in darkness, and a few manage to live out their lives celebrating each day.

I hope that we can have many more barn dances for my friend, with her attending as the guest of honor.

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Posted by Martha Mihaly

2 Apr