The ache in my hips, my knees and my legs keeps me awake.
It’s this foreign pain – mysterious germs are raiding my body. It is a simple cold. But I am “miserable.” In the beginning, I had a good attitude, was productive at the office–almost more so for fear of it catching hold of me and stopping my work. But now I am weak and hurting–and at the same time I am embarrassed for my chirpy complaining. After seeing the movie Gleason, I have a deep appreciation for my legs, arms, bowels, breath and simple, everyday efforts. Steve Gleason is an athlete, husband, father and an advocate for research. During the prime of his life, he learned he had ALS – Lou Gehrig’s’ Disease. He is now completely dependent on machines and people to live. The movie is the story of his life progressing through this devastating disease.
Thank you
After watching the movie, I am in gratitude for this amazing body. It is a walking, talking daily miracle. Thank you body–cold and all.
To be caged in your body for so long without the ability to ‘command’ your limbs or ‘control’ your bowels…I can not comprehend no matter how my body aches. His ALS hell is without words.
I felt hopeful and sad for each of them–the husband and the wife, both heroes in my book–strong, resilient, non victim, no pretenses, no ‘woe is me’….not that they aren’t human and don’t have those feelings; we witnessed them a few times in the film. But they are living, breathing, active people in the community.
I highly recommend the film.
After watching Gleason’s struggle with ALS, and witnessing friends go through this disease with loved ones, I have a renewed sense of gratitude–even if my reading glasses are uncomfortable on my achy, stuffy nose. I have a deeper understanding of this miracle we call body.
by Wendy Bright-Fallon
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“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”