Today

L to R Jackie Lee, Beth Bumgardner, me, Sandy Cross, and Michelle Anderson Swift Presenting a $9,000.00 check to the ALS Association. Thanks to YOU and our Autumn March for ALS.

In my mind today, everything is directing me to think of the present. No my wild students! Not Christmas presents, today. My today will be a trip to the ALS Clinic in Memphis. In the past, a trip to my neurologist in Nashville was always a day of tears. I know with my condition there is little to no hope of longevity, physical activity, and independence. My neurologist appointments would have me compile lists of what I had lost the prior year. I had to stare into the face of disparity and my spirit waned each year. My Nashville neurologist would comment, "There's no magic pill. Just keep doing what you do. You need some compression hose for that edema. You also should up your antidepressants." On these appointment days, I would begin weeping as soon as I entered the office and be a basket case by check out time. My poor husband would try to explain to him and his fellows, "She is only like this when we come for her neurologist appointment." Cold. Alone. That's what I always felt for the decade I went to those appointments. I guess what bothered me most is that he was not proactive. He didn't try to prepare me to put up a good fight. If you know me, you know I'm a fighter. Now, starting in June I decided to make a change. The ALS Association and Beth Bumgardner came into my life. They along with my Vanderbilt pulmonary doctor have given me more ammunition in which to live in the present while not being scared of the future in only six months. Today will NOT be a crying day. It will be a day of medical research and discovery for my anomaly ALS. They are proactive. My new neurologist is a a Peruvian doctor/scientist. Guess what? He makes me laugh. He hasn't given up and neither have I. That's why I desperately wanted to have a fund-raiser for the ALS Association. They with Wesley Neurology in Memphis, Tn, plant seeds of hope. I'm about to depart but remember be anxious of nothing for we can only seek the healer of our hearts in the "present." He comes through family, friends, professionals, organizations, and even you. Be a gift today.

Quotes of the day:

"Life is like an ice cream cone; you have to lick it one day at a time."

Dr. Seuss

To-day God invites you to do good; do it therefore to-day. To-morrow you may not have time, or God may no longer call you to do it.—ST. ALPHONSUS