he said, she said…

He said, “Wow! It’s nice to meet you!”

She said, “hello….”

He said, “We have a mutual friend.”

She said, “She invited me to come listen to the music with her.”

He said, “I am glad you could make it”

She said, “Thank you. I don’t get out often.”

He said, “Can I buy you a drink?”

She said, “no thank you”

He said, “Its been months, how are you?”

She said, “The summer went by too fast”

He said, “Can I buy you a drink this time?”

She said, “Sure, I would love a water!”

He said, “It’s loud in here”.

She said, “WHAT?”

He said, “Do you like live music?”

She said, “Yes, It’s my favorite!”

He said, “You came with her again?”

She said, “I’m her designated driver.”

He said, “Here is your water.”

She said, “Would you dance with me?”

He said, “yes”

She said, “You can DANCE!”

He said, “Wow, so can you!”

He said, “Will I see you again?”

She said, “Maybe…”

He said, “I haven’t seen you in weeks, where have you been?”

She said, “My life is complicated….

He said, “What do you do?”

She said, “I go to school”

He said, “would you like to go dancing?”

She said, “ok”

He said, “Are you seeing anyone?”

She said, “No…and I want to keep it that way!”

He said, “Why?”

She said, “I am recently separated.”

He said, “I was married for a long time too”

She said, “I have children”

He said, “I bet they are great!”

She said, “You aren’t my type”

He said, “I know, but can we keep dancing?”

She said, “Yes, I would like that…”

He said, “We have been dancing every month for almost a year now!”

She said, “I just want to be friends…”

He said, “I know…”

She said, “I’m not ready for a relationship.”

He said, “I understand. I am happy just being your friend.”

She said, “Thank you for being such a great friend to me”

He said, “Who are you here with?

She said, “I am here on a date tonight”

He said, “Do you like him?

She said, “I don’t know yet”

He said, “That guy shouldn’t be flirting with your friends”

She said, “I guess he wasn’t that into me”

He said, “He’s an idiot”

She said, “Thank you”

He said, “You deserve better!”

She said, “I agree..”

He said, “I like spending time with you”

She said, “I need to take things really slow”

He said, “Of course”

She said, “I think you are looking for more than I am ready to give.”

He said, “I have all the time in the world.”

She said, “What’s wrong with your fingers?”

He said, “Nothing, I am sure it’s nothing”

She said, “I am not ready”

He said, “I’ll wait.”

She said, “Please go to the doctor.”

He said, “Go to Cabo with me!”

She said, “I am a single mother, I can’t go to Mexico!”

He said, “It would mean so much to me!”

She said, “Will you go to the doctor?”

He said, “Of course, as soon as we get back!”

She said, “Its beautiful here!”

He said, “Thank you for coming with me.”

She said, “What did the doctor say?”

He said, “He wants to run some tests…”

She said, “It is going to be alright…”

 

He said, “I have ALS”

She said, “I know”

He said, “I’m scared.”

She said, “Me too”

He said, “Maybe you should leave?”

She said, “I promise I will stay”

He said, “Will you spend the rest of my life with me?”

She said, “Yes”

He said, “My legs are getting weaker…”

She said, “We need to find a new home”

He said, “I want to marry you and dance with you on our wedding day.”

She said, “There isn’t much time.”

He said, “I am sorry we are rushing things.”

She said, “I am sorry that the last time we danced was on our wedding day…”

He said, “I don’t want to use the wheelchair.”

She said, “It’s there when you are ready…”

He said, “I can’t lift my arms anymore.”

She said, “It’s okay, I am right here…”

He said, “Don’t worry, we are going to be alright…”

She said, “I don’t know how to ask for help”

He said, “Neither do I”

She said, “I don’t know if I can do this alone.”

He said, “I feel like a burden.”

She said, “You are not a burden.”

He said, “Happy Anniversary!”

She said, “It’s been 3 years?”

He said, “Its going by too fast”

She said, “I feel so alone”

He said, “So do I…“

She said, “I never get to go out or do anything anymore”

He said, “Neither do I”

She said, “I didn’t think it would be this hard”

He said, “Neither did I”

She said, “I miss being held.”

He said, “I miss touching you.”

She said, “Where did everybody go?

He said, “I don’t think they can handle this.”

She said, “I am so angry.”

He said, “I know.”

She said, “I had different expectations.”

He said, “I think it’s just you and I.”

She said, “You are my person.”

He said, “Thank God I have you.”

She said, “We still have so much to be thankful for…”

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How to say goodbye again…

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I wonder how they do it?

I wonder how doctors can look people in the eye, and tell them that they are going to die…

The doctor sits down and explains to the patient that they have ALS….and then what?

I know in the ALS community, there are teams of doctors and specialists and therapists who rotate into each room, greeting the newly diagnosed patient and their family member. Every doctor, specialist and therapist have a small window of time to discuss and answer questions, as well as take various measurements with various tools and devices.

These are referred to as an ALS Clinic.

These people are sent into the room to determine how much a patient has progressed.

These clinics are all over the country, the world in fact. And each one does exactly the same thing.

They diagnose…and then they chart the progression of the deadly disease known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

How do they cope with this loss repeatedly?

They meet a family, they get to know them, and they watch, helplessly from the side lines.

How do they find the strength to keep watching?

And they do this over and over with each patient they see.  They may not know when, but they know, just like a freight train that is headed straight towards them, and there is no way to jump out of the way, that death is headed for each of these patients.

Today, Matthew and I learned that we have lost another friend.

And just like that, he is gone.

I can picture his face perfectly. His eyes, and how they twinkled. His smile, and the way he grinned like a little boy with such a mischievous look in them.  I knew he loved his family. I knew he was a proud man, with an iron will and a stubborn streak t least a mile long.

I knew that he had progressed considerably since the last time I saw him.

I hadn’t seen him in months, but I knew.

Of course, I knew.

It was clear that he was struggling when I had seen him last. His shoulders were rising with each breath.  He hated the chair he was sitting in.  He visibly looked uncomfortable.  He hated being sick…

And from the short time I knew him, it was clear he was stubborn and would handle this disease his way.  I could relate to the frustration his wife felt about this.  It is hard to let someone else take the reins of their own life and yet , as the caregiver, be somewhat responsible for their health and welfare.

Matthew drinks Coke.  A lot of Coke..

He still chews tobacco…although now he has moved onto Copenhagen pouches to avoid the choking hazard of the tobacco grains going down the wrong way and causing pneumonia. But he still chews…

He eats too much fast food, and junk food, and he doesn’t care because he knows one day soon, there is a possibility that he will not be able to eat. So, my stubborn husband does as much as he wants to do, and I let him.

The man who passed was stubborn too…

He hated anything that made him weak, and he especially hated all the machines he relied on, and the medicines…and how weak he was becoming.

I am taking a huge liberty writing this, as I hadn’t gone over to visit him in so long.

I will forever feel sorry about that, and yet I hope they understood.

Matthew and I are on our own path of this destructive train wreck waiting to happen.  I know it’s coming, and so does he. Yet, we are still able to find happy moments and to experience joy and laughter. I need to keep my own happy for as long as possible. I am grasping with everything I have on some days…

The years keep going by, and the people we meet have come into our lives, and many have passed. Sometimes suddenly, and others, not so surprisingly.

And I am detaching from it all…

This doesn’t feel intentional, it’s a sort of survival mechanism for my heart.

I meet these families, and I fall in love with them.  And then I watch powerlessly as they struggle to find their new normal, and I am helpless to stop what is happening to them. And I become a bit angrier at each loss.

There are more people who have been diagnosed in our area recently.

Some have reached out to me, and this time, my wall is built.  I am a little less willing to rush into their worlds and learn all about them.  I am a little less willing to fall in love with their families, and then witness their anguish.  I hide behind the walls of our foundation. I stick to the facts.  I offer advice, but I pause before opening myself more.

Matthew is much the same.

This afternoon, he hid behind his screen.  He hid behind whatever would take his mind off what is happening.

The freight train is coming…

We can hear it.

We can’t see it yet. We still have time.  But the dread of what is coming is always there. It never quite goes away…It is dark and heavy, and we can do nothing but accept the path that we are on, and the journey we have been led to walk.

I wish his family peace.

I hope they find comfort in their memories of their time together…

And I hope they understand why I pulled away. Not because I wanted to, but because I needed to.

I am not always as strong as I like to think I am.

We are all cowards from time to time…

Goodbye friend☹

waves…

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It was breezy. The smell of the salty air teased her nose, as the wind moved through the hair that kept escaping from her clip, whipping her hair in disarray. She kept trying to secure her hair away from her face. Ready to give up on any hope of getting her hair under control, she quickly grasped her hair atop her head, pinning it on top. With one last pat, she began observing her clothes.

A black t-shirt and shorts that were ragged and well worn is all she had.  Still, she wiped her hands over her shirt, as if to iron out the wrinkles that the moisture from the sea had created.

She glanced down at her toes, wiggling in the sand. She lifted her toes upwards, trying to allow the cool water to rush in under them. When she lifted her feet up, the sand filled in, only to squish outward when she rooted her feet deeper into the earth.  The foam from the ocean lapped around her ankles as each wave slowly rocked in around her. She noticed how deep the sand felt. It was coarse, and she could feel a tug from the ocean as one wave retreated, before steeling herself against the small waves that were edging first close, then slowly retreating back where they had came from.

Her head turned, looking over her shoulders.  Each direction, she could see people standing along the beach. The sun was in her eyes, and she had to squint to see even those who were closest to her, standing along the sandy shoreline. They were all individuals, standing solitarily along the shore. She wanted to ask why but noticed that she herself was all alone. Her gaze lengthened further along the beach, noticing friends and family she recognized.

Her arm raised, waving frantically, as she smiled and called out to them.  Faster, her arm, outstretched, pumped from side to side.  Still, no one glanced her way.  She cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted.  Laughing, she bent over, her arms wrapping around her waist, giggling that she was alone, yet could see so many she knew and loved, but they could neither see nor hear her.

The smile on her face froze, as she realized that although there were so many she recognized and knew, some she even loved, she was all alone on this small area of beach and sand. Her head still turning from one shoulder, towards the other, she saw individuals, much like herself, standing and bracing against the waves.  Some were standing back up after having been knocked down by waves. Others appeared to be bracing for waves that seemed to engulf them.  She stood with bated breath, wondering how these waves were not hitting them all along the shoreline.

“Strange, I don’t see any waves near me.”

Again, the woman glanced out towards the horizon.  The darkening clouds were billowing and building upon each other.  She looked down at her feet, as another wave rocked against her legs.  This one forced her to take a step back, as she hadn’t been braced or ready for it.  She was still standing, and for that she was thankful.

She turned to walk away, but her legs wouldn’t carry her. Her heart raced. She realized that there was no turning away.  With some sort of invisible guidance, her body was held tightly facing forward.

She tried lifting her legs against the heavy sand, but each step only pulled her feet deeper and deeper into the wet, rough beach.  She saw the water pull away, and as her eyes raised in question, the wave hit her, knocking her to the ground.

Surprised at its strength and intensity, she looked for others to come help, but no one seemed to notice.  She stood up, this time, bruised and bit battered at the strength of the wave.

Again, she tried calling out to those around her for help. Why couldn’t they see her struggling?  Why did they leave her all alone?

Each person seemed to be fighting their own waves, some higher and some more gentle, only lapping at their ankles.  Again, she glanced out towards the horizon.

If a wave was going to come towards her again, this time she would be prepared.

She bent her knees, leaning heavily on her right leg, as she stepped her left foot backwards.  She would be ready this time.  Chin raised, shoulders back, she was ready for the water as it pulled further away, adding height to an already powerful wave coming towards her.

The sun forcing her to squint, she tried leaning in, as the wave came roaring towards her.  Her focus was intent, looking solely at what lay before her and this time, she refused to look beside her.  She knew she needed to brace against what was headed her way.

The wind in her face, blowing tendrils of hair across her forehead, stilled for just a moment. The mist moistened her face and arms, as she had closed her eyes, too scared to see what was coming towards her.

It was shocking how hard it hit. The air from her lungs was forced out on impact. The wave forcing her backwards. The water, now over her head swirled above her, and she kicked, lungs burning, as she tried to reach the surface for air.

She was sure her lungs would burst from the pressure building, and still she kicked harder and harder, hoping the surface was found just above her fingertips.

When she thought she could no longer hold on, the wave subsided, and she found herself once again, standing…toes wiggling in the sand.

Again, she glanced up.  The sun, that had just warmed her skin only moments before was over shadowed by dark clouds that were moving in.

Her eyes perused the horizon.  The clouds moved slowly towards her, ominously warning her. She wanted to run away, but she knew it was futile.  This storm was meant for her, and only her, and it was headed directly for her.

She watched the speed of the clouds moving. She tried to gauge how fast it was approaching, and she was also trying to prepare. She knew there would be no one to help her, she had long stopped expecting to find someone to lean on. She had no choice but to face what was coming, alone.

She could dig her heels in.  She could brace herself as best as possible, and plan for whatever may come…but in the end, it was up to her to decide if she would find the strength to beat this storm.

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I would like to take just a moment and explain this short story. This story has many metaphors, and I hoped they were easily discovered.  The inability to run away.  The waves are problems that we must all face alone on our journey through life.  Often, when we think we have support and help, when we look around, we find that, we are all alone.

This story is not necessarily a story about my hopes and dreams, it is something that I struggle with more and more as time marches on.  I know what is in my future. I know it looks bleak and sometimes terrifying.  I also am fully aware that this journey is mine, and mine alone.

I can only hope to make it through to the other side, without drowning from the sorrow of what life has chosen to throw in my path.  Maybe, although I cannot turn away from my path set before me, or the storm that is clearly coming my way, I can at least prepare for it, brace for it. Really, that is all any of us can do on this journey called “life.”