We encountered some surreal sorts of moments as the nation celebrated MS Awareness Week March 11-17.
As part of this celebration Jennifer and I spent all day Thursday at Central Montcalm High School in Stanton, Mich., sharing our stories with six different classes of students.
High school English teacher and our friend, Theresa, had invited us to speak as guest authors after most of her students were assigned to read “Let me tell you about … Becoming the Bat Man” – an essay from our book, “Despite MS, to Spite MS,” – as part of their nonfiction writing classes.
What an amazing opportunity to introduce and further inform the younger generation about this chronic disease of the central nervous system. We spoke to more than 120 students about our experiences with MS while also emphasizing to them the importance and value of writing regularly.
The students encouraged us through the number of them who already had some understanding of Multiple Sclerosis, and we left with a greater appreciation for the amount of work teachers do each day.
Then came Friday.Northern Michigan’s News Leader
TV 9&10 – the CBS affiliate in Cadillac, Mich. – featured us in one of the top stories of its 6 p.m. newscast. Reporter Eric Lloyd and photojournalist Jacob Johnson spent some time with us early that afternoon learning more about MS and how we work together to move forward in spite of it.
They did an incredible job in accurately sharing our story and helping to increase MS awareness with their viewers.
Such a story also ties in well with the CBS network. According to the National MS Society website the CBS Cares project “… launched February 21st unites the number one daytime drama, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, THE TALK’s Sharon Osbourne and her son, television personality and producer Jack Osbourne, to promote multiple sclerosis awareness …”
Our story is just one of the countless others that are out there to increase awareness. And though MS Awareness Week 2013 is coming to a close, we still have nearly half of March and MS Awareness Month to go! Take advantage of this time to stay active in sharing information and your experiences with others to keep the conversations going through the end of March and beyond.
But in reality, aren’t those of us living with MS aware of it 365 days each year?
Let’s make each one of them count!
Thank you for all the work you do. You guys are amazing!
Thanks to you and Jennifer for all you do to raise awareness!
Hey how cool is that! Congrats to you kids!
(Geez, at least Dan could have shaved beforehand. He’s giving those of us with MS an image of a lumberjack.)
What a wonderful thing to do. I appreciate that you are MS advocates and that the children in that English class may have been touched by your story. The way I see it, the more awareness that there is, the more likely that it can be a disease cured. Hopefully, you touched their lives and they will become MS supporters. Thank you for advocating about Multiple Sclerosis.