Skip to main content

Walk For ALS

We did it! We walked in the 2014 Walk to Defeat ALS in Seattle. We made our team goal and this was our first year of participation. We had a dozen walkers show up and what a great experience it turned out to be. There were balloons, vendors, ALSA friends, PALS, children, dogs, family, friends, music, cameras, and camraderie. I never realized how much fun I'd have!

Way more people showed up to walk than I imagined. First, my daughter surprised me by showing up from sunny California on Friday night. How she and my husband kept that secret is beyond me. My sister, Renee, arrived with her bestie, Jennifer. My dad surprised me and walked for me and the Admiral at his place of work, a nursing home in Issaquah.  My step daughter, Angelique, brought my honorary grand-daughter, Lizzy, to walk. My brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Emily, roared up on their Harley Davidson. My friend and partner-in-crime, Lynda Muir, brought her daughter, Journ. My husband and top contributer, Rodney, brought me.

Speaking of contributors, our nephew, Brian, and brother-in-law, Steve, donated and Microsoft should match it. My husband thought his employer would match but Hermanson apparently has no love for the ALS sufferer and refused to match or donate. Too bad he didn't dump Hermanson for McKinstry when he had the opportunity a few months ago. They have a heart for philanthropy. Yeah, I out big money employers. Sue me. It's the truth. But I will give the office worker credit, bless her heart, she gave an unsolicited sizable donation and she never even met me. I'm impressed! My daughter, both of my sisters, and my sister's boyfriend all donated. As did the employee's at Life Care Center of Federal Way. That impresses me to the hilt.
Labels:
Location: Federal Way, WA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Remember...

I remember catching fireflies,  putting them in a jar, as a girl of five. I picked pears off a tree that overhung an alleyway on my route home from school, then enjoyed the forbidden fruit. .I had a golden cat who chased a gray mouse through our living room sending my mother, 3-year old sister, and me screaming atop the sofa and chairs. We lived in a farmhouse and I watched Romper Room. A daddy longlegs skittered across my dirty kid legs as I teeter-tottered on a broken kitchen chair back. I played grocery store and laid out a bedroll for group nap time in preschool. We lived in an apartment attached to a bakery. My maternal grandparents visited and a photo was snapped. Grandma held Dawn and Grandpa held me. I held Grandpa's chin. Walking through the back of the flour-caked kitchen, I saw scrumptious pastries and colorful toys stuck in the cupcakes with my hungry kids eyes. We lived in a two-story apartment building next door to a large farmer's field.  That field was my...
3 comments
Read more

You're Not You...Me, Too!

1 Wow! Spot on...In so many ways.  Granted I wasn't in the the same socio-economic circumstance, and neither do I play piano but I was passionate about knitting and I lost the ability to engage in my passion practically from the onset of the ALS. Symptoms first manifested in my right hand as well. I was big on juicing, supplements, and did not worry about fats nor calories. But ALS advanced relentlessly. I hired friends as caregivers and had to bear the humiliation of being toileted by them.One of the worst hurdles for me was allowing a long time male friend wipe me following a toilet. My mother, stepfather, and sister all toileted me as well. Of course, my husband had to attend to all of my most delicate needs, showering, dressing and make-up application. I could really relate to Hillary Swank's character, Kate, in all circumstances except, she chose not to use the bipap (breathing apparatus).  I don't really get why somebody would opt out of a non-invasive solution to...
3 comments
Read more

Kate

I think about my friend, Kate Struby, who died from this horrible disease in 2013. She lived here at Bailey Boushay House before I did. I reached out to Kate online through FaceBook because I loved her photograph with her head thrown back in laughter. I also loved her posts. I guess I just loved her spirit. I got to finally meet her one month before she died. I happened to be at the University of Washington Medical Center for my quarterly appointment when I saw her FaceBook post. She was awake and in the medical ICU. She was a mere few floors down. I would not be stopped. Relativeor no, I would meet my FaceBook friend. Thank God I did. I rolled into the room to find a beautiful, ethere.al woman flanked by two friends. Although it was an impromtu visit, she said she knew me immediately.I was in awe of her with her fiery spirit despite the ravages of our shared disease. She, unable to lift even a finger, lifted my spirit.
2 comments
Read more