“The Walking Dead” Chapter 106

The other day I was working on a project and was asked to provide a verification letter from a medical professional verifying I had ALS. Ready? I wanted to say “You caught me, I am making this shit up.” I love not having to work and sit on my ass so much I am literally in pain all day. I spend all day thinking of ways to defraud government agencies and individual companies to get handouts” Who does that? Then I remember watching 20/20 about the story of Gypsy Rose and her crazy ass mother who used her daughter to defraud many medical and private companies. So I shut up and submitted my letter.

Everyone who is diagnosed with ALS gets some version of this letter. The letter telling anyone who asks “Why yes David does have ALS and is dying, since you asked.”  We are the walking dead. Our lives have been cut short and we are running out of time. The funny thing about it is the more I lose, the more I grow. I am more patient, become a better writer and enjoy the arts more to name a few things. I have said it before and I will continue to say it. I am LIVING with ALS. So now that we have our death letters why are living more now than before?

I personally believe PALS see things differently. Instead of focusing on the negatives we look at the positives. For example: the weather here has been beautiful the past few weeks so it’s easy to be happy about it. Today it’s raining and I can’t go out. The grey skies are blocking out the bright sun. The rain is creating mud and a river of water is running through my yard. Instead of focusing on how the rain affects me I focus on what’s happening around me. As I look out the windows I realize the muted sunlight allows me to see the colors of the plants better. The fern that looks one shade of green when it’s sunny has many shades of green under the clouds showing off its beauty. The dry lifeless backyard over the past few weeks of sunny days has awakened. The rain and clouds allow the bugs crawling about a reprieve from the hot sun. The birds who fought for a drop of water, now sing as they bathe in the flowing river of rain water.

Time for us is much different now. We don’t focus on how time moves quickly as life passes us, but enjoy every minute of the day. Groundhogs day is not only a day to see if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow and we have six more weeks of winter. It’s not even the 1993 Bill Murray cult classic movie. Groundhogs day for many people is slogging off to work and before they know it 10, 20 even 30 years has passed. For PALS we thank God we woke up, enjoy each day as if it’s new and pray to wake up the next day. We would love to go back to work, but this time we wouldn’t be the walking dead. We would be abad asses with a samurai sword, succeeding in life because now we see the good things in the darkness.

Now the fact is I know this is not true for everyone, the honest truth is this sucks and not just for PALS and CALS, it’s hard for friends and family too. One day you will be able to say I have a friend who was cured and no longer say died of ALS. Everyone will be LIVING not walking through life dead and the letter will no longer be needed.

Today we honor our Veterans, worthy men and women who gave their best when they were called upon to serve and protect their country. Happy Veterans Day to all who served! Thank you for your service!

Veterans are twice as likely than civilians to get ALS. They didn’t put that on the recruiting ads when I joined.

Love and Blessings

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