Living with ALS

My father passed away from ALS September 6, 2001. I was 15 at the time of his passing.

The Bad News: I remember we went on a trip to Florida to visit some family, and our relatives kept on asking my mom if my dad had been drinking. My dad never drank, so being drunk was out of the question. Since we lived with him, the gradual change of his speech was difficult to notice initially. He went for some tests and the doctors thought maybe he had MS. They ran some more tests and said he did not have MS only to tell us he had ALS

Bravest Man: Instead of giving up, he did research. The more you know about something, the easier it is to deal with. He never showed any fear.

The victory: My Dad always had his theories about God, but was not saved. He wanted to go to church, and he wanted his family to go too. We all started going to church. My dad began studying the Bible with a good friend. My Dad was saved.

Tough Love: I know you’ve heard the phrase, tough love. I think this was God’s way of showing tough love. I don’t know this for sure, but just maybe if my Dad didn’t get sick, he may have never been saved. I know now that when my time is up here in this life, I will be with my Dad once again for eternal life. How comforting!

When dealing with something difficult like this, I know it’s easy to just give up. You can’t give up. If you are the ill, you can’t give up because you need to live your final moments as full as you can. And if there is a chance to make it through the illness, how will you know if you give up? If you are a family member or friend of somebody ill, you can’t give up. You have to support the ill in his/her time of need. I know it’s also easy to get angry with God. I did. I even swore at God in church! But after maturing, I’ve realized that life is like when you cross stitch. If you look at it from behind, it makes no sense at all, but once you turn it over, you see the big picture. Right now on this earth, we are looking at it from behind. Once we leave this earth and go to heaven, we will see the big picture!

Have faith!