Your Side Glances Don’t Go Unnoticed

Last week I had two bad, awful, terrible days in a row. I could not get my body to cooperate with my need to move and coordinate my actions with my desires to get things done. I needed my trekking pole to navigate our campus since I wasn’t just in my office those days.

I had to walk across the campus, moving slowing using my trekking pole. I saw your looks, your desire to seem unaware, to wonder what the normal Duracell bunny gal was doing with a walking aid….duh! I was trying to walk to an important meeting and not fall or trip from a foot drop. One person, a dear heart, asked me if I was okay. She texted me the next day just to check in. This caring person fortifies my desire to keep on truckin’ and being my best self each day.

For those who side-glance me, welcome to my world — a world where I am not sure if I can walk unaided each day, or if my balance will hold up, or if my numbness in my hands makes me drop everything. A piece of advice–don’t avoid me; instead, greet me as you used — MS is not contagious.

This is my new normal; I am okay with this incurable and unpredictable disease. My wish is that others might join me in my resolve.