Category Archives: Just for Fun

Jennifer’s walkin’. Yes indeed, she’s walkin’.

I told Dan that I still remember the last big, long walk I ever took like it was yesterday.

My first physical therapist, Heather, and I were at the Bower Theater in Flint, Michigan, to see the musical “La Cage aux Folles.” It was highly promoted so naturally, the parking lot was packed the afternoon of the performance we attended. I found an open parking space in what felt was about a mile away from the theater, but at least I got a spot, was on time and was able to enjoy the show.

I remember everything about that May 2002 afternoon so vividly. It was just five short years after my diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis, and I was losing my ability to walk. I kept repeating to myself, “Just put one foot in front of the other, pick up your walker, take a breath. Be patient. You’ll make it.” And I did. But that was one of the last times I went for a walk.

That is, until yesterday (November 21, 2019).

Suspended in the XY-Gantry system, I stood and took 6 steps. Six steps!

This all was part of a physical therapy program at Central Michigan University where I’ve worked with two doctor of physical therapy students (Chase and Nate) twice a week for three weeks. And in this, my third session, they hooked me up into a harness and I stood.

Then, with all my weight supported through my arms, parallel bars and the XY-Gantry, I felt my thighs contracting and slowly but surely my legs received the message and I took a step with my right leg. It felt amazing! I was so unbelievably ecstatic. So much so, I couldn’t even enjoy and live in that moment.

“Let’s do this again!” I loudly screamed to myself in my mind. And so I did, as I repeated the process with my left leg.

This time I said it out loud, “Let’s do it again!”

Nate did a great job of preventing me from getting ahead of myself. He reminded me to stand up straight. Get back to center. Be patient. Make each step count.

I did. And I counted all six of them.

This number doesn’t come close to how many I took in my last long walk from the parking lot to see “La Cage aux Folles” at the Bower Theater. But then again, I didn’t realize how important such a walk was back in 2002.

Among the lessons I’ve learned throughout my life with MS, it’s more valuable to focus on appreciation and what can be than it is to concentrate on regret and what might have been. Sure, I get sad from time to time because I no longer can walk, but it never stops me from looking forward and finding hope in each moment.

I see the opportunities that equipment like the XY-Gantry has for me in my life with MS. After all, this is the same system that enabled Dan and me to dance to our wedding song for the first time. And I now know it can help me to walk. One step led to 6, and I am riding high on the hope of doing it again and the promise that comes through working with so many of the talented PT students on campus and in our home (thanks, Liz and Ben!).

Experience a new kind of MS support (virtually speaking)

“We appreciate MS can change the challenges of even the simplest daily tasks … and we understand how it makes you feel  – physically and emotionally. Why? Because we are peers … we too live with MS and we understand it at the most basic level, Share your insight and commiserate with others who know.”…Continue Reading

Life with MS: MS4MS brings diamonds in the rough

Sam Greenberg had a vision of diamonds and a match made in heaven. And we saw firsthand in Detroit that baseball has a welcomed place in the efforts to enhance and improve the lives of people and families living with Multiple Sclerosis. Sam is the founder and CEO of Mission Stadiums for Multiple Sclerosis (MS4MS),…Continue Reading

A Valentine’s Day Wedding Dance… 13 years in the Making

There’s something that always has bothered me about Dan and my wedding day. He never danced with me to our wedding song on September 10, 2005. It’s not that Dan didn’t want to. It’s just that I wasn’t able to stand with him for the 2 minutes and 38 seconds it takes for Bruce Springsteen…Continue Reading

MS and camping at Coldwater in incredibly cold weather

The same thought crossed both of our minds shortly after midnight as we huddled together shivering under five blankets. “We won’t die from hypothermia if it only gets down to 34 degrees, will we?” Jennifer reassured herself that we had keys to the van, and we could just go home where it was warm, while…Continue Reading

Virginia is for … conquering MS fears

It seems like we just got back from our epic trip to Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia to present at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Brian Mason Weekend Escape. Guess when you successfully tackle one of your biggest flying fears, the adrenaline rush takes its time leaving your system. Sure, we’ve taken direct flights countless…Continue Reading

Taking MS back to school

Catching the “Back to School” spirit, Jennifer and I remember the excitement that came with each new year. Things like new clothes. An unopened box of 64 Crayola crayons, with the color sharpener in back. Promising yourself that this is the year you’re going to stay on top of your homework, get a good night…Continue Reading

Judas Priest! How we won at the casino.

And to think we didn’t really want to go to the concert in the first place. Even though our friend Steve Jessmore texted us to see if we were interested in going, and Jennifer’s brother, Steve, also called to invite us, we weren’t sold initially. Not that we were anti-Judas Priest or Deep Purple. We…Continue Reading