Friday evening I called my mother. She had extended an invitation to attend the MS Walk in Cheyenne at least a month earlier to show support for my father who has been living with MS for years.
It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and while talking to my mother I had a least a hundred reasons in my head as to why I couldn't come; I'm renovating my bathroom, the yard needs a lot of work, 9:30 am is really early and Cheyenne is really far away, etc, etc...
I finished the conversation with my mother with the understanding that I most likely wouldn't be attending. However, if by the off chance I'm awake and motivated to travel, I'll give her a call and let her know to expect me.
I handed the phone off to my wife who then talked to my mother for another hour. I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to sleep in the following morning.
When she was done with her conversation we sat down to chat about the day. She mentioned that my mother told her that my father was really starting to show obvious signs of MS.
My father has had MS for years. It started with a numb feeling in the tips of his fingers and it has slowly started to take over his body. I saw him several weeks ago, the first time in quite a while and noticed that his walking was a bit labored.
My mother told my wife about a recent episode at work, when he lost feeling in his legs and was unable to stand for about a half hour. When my wife told me that it hit home pretty hard. He really does have a disease...
I always thought of my dad as a strong man and I started thinking about how this disease is slowly starting to strip every bit of that strength away from him.
I started thinking that maybe I could do a local walk in his honor, a walk that is closer to home, still being a bit selfish in my thinking. That didn't seem right.
Before going to bed I went into my sons room to check on him. At that moment I totally knew what I had to do. If I were in my fathers condition, I would hope that my son would be willing to come walk with me for a short mile.
The next morning I woke up bright and early, packed up my son and headed to Wyoming.
Once there I quickly registered and found my dad and the other family members that were able to attend. We started the walk around the park, which was approximately a mile in length. My dad started out strong, needing little help from his cane, by the end of the walk he really starting to rely it. He finished and he did a great job! I couldn't have been more proud and I couldn't have been happier that I came to the walk in support of him.
Admittedly, this walk made me see my father in a different way. Not a bad way, but different. It made me realize that MS is more than just a diagnosis. It is a disease.
Today, as I write this, the hustle and bustle of life is really insignificant compared to the life altering disease that my father has. A disease that I plan to learn more about so I can continue to support my father even when we aren't walking.
No comments:
Post a Comment