Lamenting
Sweet home Chicago.
*sigh.
So I'm going to talk about something serious now. A few years ago my mom was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. This has been a very difficult thing to deal with in our family. My mom is doing as well as can be expected, but seeing the slow mental and physical deterioration of your own mother is not something pleasant to witness.
I miss my mother...who she used to be anyway. Seeing her this way really makes trips home less enjoyable. My father is very strong--being her rock--he takes care of her day in and day out and I sometimes wonder if it would be easier for him if my brother and I moved back home to Chicago.
I am talking about this now because it's on my mind, and I think that enough time has passed where it is safe for me to talk about it. I alluded to something about it back when my Mom was diagnosed, but my Dad had me take it down for her privacy. I really just need another forum to get my feelings out about it. Most of my friends know and some people at work, and most of our family as well.
Knowing me, I would think I would be embarassed about going out in public with my Mother...that's just how I always was. My parents never really dressed fashionably, didn't care about money...very thrifty...so when I was younger I was embarassed often times...stupid materialistic reasons really. I was a brat...now I'm not embarassed...if anything I'm defensive for my mother. If I see people in restaurants staring, I get upset...if she stumbles over a step I have the urge to help her. No longer am I embarassed...I'm just sad about it. Sad that my mother's condition will only continue to worsen...and that this might be one of the final times that I see her up and about. Next time I see her, she might be in a wheel chair. Everytime I call her, the first thing she generally says is "I'm still walking!" It seems like she's holding onto this one last piece of her old life...she loves walking around as much as she can.
I just wanted to get this out there. I'm not looking for pitty or sympathy...just getting my feelings out in the open. Thanks for listening. Feel free to donate to your local ALS chapter. This is one disease without a cure...and one that could only be aided with stem cell research. Hopefully our next Commander in Chief will see things in a different light, and realize all that is being hampered by this administration's policies.