Normalcy

 

  It has been a long time since I have posted in what was once my everyday go-to Blog. Despite what some may think, I didn't die. I am still around, just not so full of energy as I once was. Finding myself afflicted with Lou Gehrig disease (ALS) three years ago slowed me up considerably. You can read about my struggles with  amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on another Blog of mine called: "My ALS Journey -- The Nerve of Some Nerves" (lemals.blogspot.com).

     Where I have been most active during this past year has been on

my Blog "I Saw It in The Book" (lempage.blogspot.com). If you guessed The Book referred to is the Bible, you would be right. I admit I am a deep believer in Jesus Christ. I teach Bible Studies at my church on Sunday evenings. "I Saw It in The Book" is my posted lessons. I certainly urge you to read it. Actually, I urge people to read either of those Blogs.  I also began a Blog years ago dealing with Christian thought called, "Night Writing in the Morning Life" (lemnite.blogspot.com) Check it out as well. But over all, take time to read The Bible.

 

    Still, I felt I should add to "Drinking of Elder Men" because that had been my normal outlet for years and years, thus this post is titled, "Normalcy".  One, I wanted to show a lot of long time readers that I was indeed still alive, and two, this post is about one of my normal days, which means it has a lot to do with walking, an ability I am gradually losing, but haven't completely lost yet.  True, I cannot manage those 5 to 10 mile morning ambles anymore, but I still go out and walk in the park almost every morning. Now a-days this is mostly in Bellevue State Park, where the trails are somewhat kinder.  One-and-a-half miles now in generally all I manage. Today I definitely did more than that and I am paying for this overextension now.

      I like to go round the meadows. Yeah, my doctors told me they wanted me to stay on the paved trails, but I asked them, "What's the fun in that?" Besides one can just as easily fall on the paved trails, except the macadam is a lot harder than the grass covered paths of the fields. If I fall in the meadow it is fairly soft this time of year. Worse that happens is I get up mad splattered.

   

      As I began my stroll, and still on paved paths, I kept seeing these signs with arrows, which said, "MCC 5K". Well, obviously there is going to be a 5K run today in the park. This in America distance is 3.1 miles. That distance was nothing to me three years ago.  But what did MCC stand for.

     As I slowly went climbing an upgrade, I met a man and his dog coming down. The dog froze and wouldn't go past me. I thought it was my walking stick, but the man told me the dog wanted me to pet her, and so I did. I also asked if he knew what the MCC stood for.

     "The Mary Campbell Center," he said. "They are having a 5K run to raise funds."  The Mary Campbell Center is a residential long term care facility for individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities. Given what I have I could someday be right in the middle of those wheelchair bound individuals. I also had an acquaintance living there.

     I finished my jaunt, but as I was returning to the parking lot I saw incoming traffic had grown, including three Mary Campbell Center buses. Despite the increasing weakness in my legs I decided to press on and walk over to where the event would be kicking off. I wanted to see if my friend was there.

I got down as they were erecting the Start/Finish line. There would be a bit of a wait until the event started, so I stood precariously balanced in the grass along the track. I had dropped my cane once and was having difficulties staying upright as I bent over trying to retrieve it, but fortunately a young man saw my plight and picked it up for me.

At the edge of the line I began a conversation with a women participant waiting to be called to the line. She was from Havre de Grace in Maryland, a hour plus drive away. She came to these charity runs every weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. She said she did this to stay in shape. Her husband couldn't anymore (he was 61, so I assume she was around that age). He had recently had both knees replaced as well as a shoulder. He planned to have the other shoulder done as soon as the first healed, so she was married to the bionic man. As I had been walking down to the start one of the Mary Campbell people came past me pushing a racing wheelchair. As he did so he said to me, "You're Uber is here!" I was almost ready to take him up on it.

They began the run (roll, stroll, run as they called it) with the wheel chairs, which they called

to post as "inclusion chairs". And there was my friend, right there in the first row. Her name is April, though she was born in May. She attends my  church every week. Now as the race began she was laughing and happy being pushed along for the 5K.  She is the lady on the right side of the track whizzing by with the big smile. 

I was worn down by now, but glad I stayed and saw April. I am probably fated to being wheelchair bound someday with what I have and if I become so, I hope I can still get out on the trails, God willing.