Good morning, everyone.
This is the continuation of my time living in Portland, Oregon, when I was 20 years oldâwith my triplet brother Tim and my roommate from WIU, Phil.
Weâd been in Portland for about a week, and reality set in quickly. We needed jobs. And we needed a place to live.
We found temporary housing overlooking a junkyard in a sketchy part of town. There was no heat. That was fine while the weather was still decentâbut once November arrived, it became a real problem.
Good morning, everyone.â¨Be safe out thereâit is seriously cold.
Following my one year and done at WIU, I returned home in the summer of 1979 to a fair amount of well-deserved stink eye from my mom. She was always the bad cop. Like any good parent, she asked the question that hung in the air every day:
What are you going to do with your life?
I was 20 years old, and I had no answer.
Good morning, everyone.
In keeping with the mantra âHappy wife, happy life!â Iâm breaking from my self-imposed 7:00 a.m. CST publishing deadline and pushing this back by an hour or so. It helps keep the sleep cycles in the house somewhat normalâand thatâs a win for everyone.
Letâs rewind to 1978â79.
I was a freshman at Western Illinois University. After graduating high school, I stayed home and attended the College of Lake County to get my grades up.
Good morning, everyone.
Yesterday was a hard dayâŚeven though all I really did was sit and get pushed around. It still amazes me how exhausting it can be to do almost nothing physically.
We left the house at 7:00 a.m. for my 8:45 CT scan of my chest at Evanston hospital. It was Cindy, her sister Barb, and me. Bitter cold, quick transfers, careful steps on icy ground. At least I finally upgraded from ankle socks to warm trekking socksâŚabout four months late, but better late than frozen.
Good morning, everyone.
I finished Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. Itâs a work of historical fiction centered on Martha Ballard, a midwife who delivered more than a thousand babies in the second half of the 1700s. Lawhon takes a narrow slice of time and builds a murder mystery around it, using Marthaâs detailed journals as the backbone of the story.
Martha is observant, deeply involved in everyoneâs business, and openly scornful of most menâincluding, at times, her husband, who comes across as nothing short of a saint.
Good morning, everyone.
Tough loss for the Bears last night, but what a seasonâit was heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat football all year and the most excitement in Chicago since the Devin Hester daysâŚor even the â85 Bears. Caleb Williams is the real deal, and for the first time in a long while thereâs genuine hope for the future. The overtime loss hurts, but this team never quit. They kept us watching to the very end, and thatâs what sports are supposed to be: pure entertainment and a welcome distraction from life.
Good morning, everyone.
Growing up, most of us had a best friend at some point in childhood. That one person who lived a block or two away, close enough that you could just show up. Back in the â60s and â70s there were no arranged playdates, no calendars to coordinate. Your parents simply nudged you out the door and told you to get out from underfoot. Friendship took care of itself.
Good morning, everyone.
Yesterday was massage dayâmy bi-weekly appointment with Ashley from Sullivan Mobile Massage and Spa. This was my fourth session with her, and she continues to be nothing short of wonderful.
At my third massage, we switched to a chair massage. I simply donât move well on a table anymoreâand if Iâm being honest, I donât really move at all. Playing it safe felt like the right call. But when Ashley finished, I knew immediately: it wasnât the same.
Good morning, everyone.
I finished reading The Nine yesterdayâa WWII story. Iâm always struck by what people are able to endure and still maintain the will to live. The courage and tenacity required to survive torture and the inhumane conditions of concentration camps in Germany and Japan is beyond comprehension.
Thanks for the recommendation Nikki.
ALSâŚAnother Fall I had fall #16 the other day while Cindy was out with friends.
Good morning, everyone.
Happy Birthday to Geoff B. đđđĽłđ Geoff is the IT brain behind this blog. If he hadnât helped get it set up, Iâm honestly not sure it ever wouldâve gotten off the ground. Thank you, Geoff, for your steady support and for being one of the people quietly making this whole thing possible.
We had a couple of visitors yesterday afternoon. Bill and his girlfriend Monica made the trek from Waukegan to spend some time with us.
Good morning, everyone.
Yâall came through yesterday. Cindy was flooded with happy birthday wishes all day long. We even had Angel Peggy stop by and join us for a casual pizza dinner. Thank you for helping make it such a special day.
Unfortunately, I nearly derailed the entire thingâsimply by crossing up a few numbers. I recently bought a pulse oximeterâthe little device you clip on your finger. Theyâre inexpensive, and since Iâve been feeling short of breath, I wanted to see whether my oxygen saturation was being affected.
Good morning, everyone.
Itâs an important day. Today is Cindyâs birthday. đđđĽłđâ¨Letâs find a safe port in this ALS storm and celebrate Cindy all day long.
So Iâm asking for something simpleâand something important. Please reach out to her. Flood her phone with texts. Leave messages. Post on Facebook. Use whatever corner of the internet you inhabit to say happy birthday. For one full day, letâs gather up the dark clouds of ALS, lock them away, and give her uninterrupted sunshine.
Good morning, everyone.
I watched the BearsâPackers game yesterday morning. I knew there was no way I could stay up late to watch it live andstill crank out a blog post by 7:00 a.m. It was exciting to see the Bears winâmaybe too excitingâbut thatâs been the Bears MO all season. Good. Better. Best.
Cindy was able to carve out some time for herself this weekend and get out to socialize with friends and family.
Good morning, everyone. Happy birthday wishes to my sister Maria, who recently retired to northern Wisconsin, and to Cindyâs cousin Pat S. in Florida.
Fare Thee Well Yesterday we lost Bob Weir, one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead, and later Dead & Company. A sad day for the many Deadheads who followed that music over a lifetime.
I have a lot of fond memories of seeing the Dead, primarily at Alpine Valley Music Theatre.
Good morning, everyone.
So far, so goodâIâve managed to avoid the worst of the seasonâs cold and flu. At most, Iâve had some early-morning sniffles that disappear by 7:00 a.m. Whatever causes them, they donât linger, so Iâm not giving them much thought.
Thank you to everyone who had plans to stop by but chose to back off to avoid risking my health. I donât love being risk-averse, but in this case itâs the smart move, and I truly appreciate the thoughtfulness.
Good morning, everyone!
Happy birthday to Linda B. in Arizonaâone of Cindyâs many cousins. đ
Feeding tube saga: three weeks and counting. Iâm officially sorry I ever mentioned the degradation of my original feeding tube. Yesterday was my appointment in Grayslake for what we were told would be measurement for a new feeding tube.
Barb and Mark came along for both moral and physical support. Transfers in and out of the car are risky for me these days, and if something goes sideways, it can quickly become a real problem.
Good morning, everyone.
Yesterdayâs cold came on strong in the morningâjudging by the growing pile of Kleenexâand then disappeared just as quickly. By early morning (normal time), everything dried up and I felt fine. Weird⌠but Iâll take the win. Maybe that IV cocktail from Saturday really did its job.
Today brings a bigger challenge.
Iâm heading to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Grayslake to get measured for the feeding tube replacement.
Good morning, everyone.
Well⌠I think my immune system may have just thrown up the white flag this morning. When my nose starts running, it usually isnât long before the rest of my body joins the rebellion. Maybe Iâm wrongâbut the growing pile of used Kleenex is usually a pretty reliable early warning system. Seriously, I hope Iâm wrong.
I donât want to take a turn for the worst, tomorrow Iâm supposed to get âmeasuredâ for a feeding tube.
Good morning, everyone.
Letâs talk about ALSâspecifically the top three physical issues Iâm dealing with right nowâbecause the physical side quietly drives everything else: the mental load, the emotional swings, and the social engagements.
I still find it odd to write about this stuff. But this is what Iâm working through every single day. And the biggest takeawayâone I donât want to gloss overâis this: Iâm still doing it. Iâm still showing up.
Andyâs Army â ALS United Chicago Marathonâ¨Current fundraising total: $6,247 To donate, click the hamburger â° in the top right corner and select đď¸ Fundraiser
Good morning, everyone.
It was the perfect morning to hit snooze and sleep inâuninterrupted sleep continues to be elusive. Between the machines, the pillows, the pee,,and the phlegm (which Iâm fairly certain is trying to choke me), my nights are anything but restful.
Since today marks the official end of the holiday breakâschoolâs back in session and everyoneâs returning to workâI wanted to show my solidarity with those who must rise and shine and face the day head-on.