GOOD STUFF: WE HAS IT

The random person reading this blog might get the impression that things can be pretty sucky when you’re living with ALS. That person would be correct.

But if that person were to conclude that everything is sucky when you’re living with ALS, that person would be very wrong.

The key phrase here is “living with ALS.” My condition informs my life, but it is not my life. And there have been plenty of wonderful events this year that make my little diagnosis pale in comparison.

We are living in a new house. In March, right about the time things started getting interesting for me neurologically, we moved to a beautiful new townhome, one that is perfectly sized and laid out for our needs. Our master bedroom, kitchen, garage, and front door are just a few steps from one another. Exterior maintenance is handled by the HOA. I now wish I had listened to Dee and done this years earlier.

Another bright spot: we have a granddaughter on the way! Our daughter and her partner are expecting a baby: By the time mid-November rolls around, Dee and I should be grandparents (kein ayin hara) for the very first time. Huzzah!

And yesterday’s news filled out the trifecta: My brother announced his engagement! Yes: my sweet, thoughtful, lovable brother is affianced to a lovely, warm-hearted lady. They complement each other beautifully in a way that is hard to describe but wonderful to observe.

With all these happy events going on, I have plenty to look forward to. A little motor neuron disease is, by comparison, a mere inconvenience.

Both of my daughters are visiting right now, my brother and his fiancée just having returned to New York. Everywhere I turn, I am surrounded by the people who love me – and whom I love most deeply. And thanks to modern ars electronica, the others are mere inches away on my iPhone. My fingers may not always do what I ask them to, but right now my main problem is that I don’t have enough of them upon which to count my blessings.