Fox & Reeve

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
~Christopher Reeve~




"One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered." ~Michael J. Fox~





I met Christopher Reeve and Michael J. Fox on 'big screen' dates with my son. Superman II had his four-year-old face flushed with super-hero excitement and mine with female appreciation of Reeve's crystal baby blues.

Pizza Hut and Back To The Future was another mutual date-night hit...Marty McFly, time travel fantasy mixed with action, comedy, and romance, topped with mushrooms and pepperoni.

I loved both of these actors, experiencing the thrill of the stories and characters they portrayed, a pretend world where good always overcomes evil. Fate dealt both actors a cruel blow...a tragic accident, a cruel diagnosis...indiscriminate reality.

Good may not always overcome evil, but attitude, purpose, and perseverance can. I watched both actors live as the heroic men they were/are...megastars of hope, encouragement, and courage. Living my own tragedy, I became a raving fan.

I listened to Reeve's candid interviews and future visions. With my SPS symptoms, I can relate to frozen immobility, understand a world with wheels. Some of my SPS pals need a chair. A picture of Christopher and his son are displayed by my computer...a reminder of what ONE can do 'in spite of' adversity.

Fox speaks about his progression of Parkinson's, the loss of mobility functions, and planning activities around medication peaks. I plan my day around my prescription windows of opportunity.

Both men inspire me with their candor, hope, and advocacy. Celebrity status has given both men a stage to showcase everyday heroes who live with physical or mental challenge, a spotlight on needed research for the dark world of disabling conditions.

Christoper Reeve's hope lives on through his foundation. Michael J. Fox has the largest Parkinson's nonprofit. Fox has an upcoming television special:

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Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist airs Thursday, May 7 on ABC.

“For everything this disease has taken, something with greater value has been given,” Fox says. “So, sure, it may be one step forward and two steps back, but after a time with Parkinson’s, I’ve learned that what is important is making that one step count.”

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““You've got to give more than you take.”
~Christopher Reeve~

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business."
~Michael J. Fox~

Copyright © 2009

Medicine Cabinet Secrets

"Forty is the age of youth; 50 is the youth of old age."
~Victor Hugo~

This morning it struck me...I can tell my age by the products I buy at the drugstore. Neatly arranged on the kitchen counter, where a cannister set would have decoratively perched in my twenties, was a step-down arrangement of Bene-fiber plus calcium, Centrum Silver, and Caltrate 600-D. Now my Sam's Club must-have-supply of Aleve has company.

A trip through the secrets of my bathroom supply closet reveal hair color, microwave lip wax, and 'mature' skin lotion. Retinol, collagen, SPF 30...does it really help or am I gullible?

For romantic inclinations, advertisements of KY tingle or heat promise to deliver youthful passion to midlife romance. I envision middle-aged women casing their local CVS during the daytime to locate Jiffy Lube romance. Later, under the cloak of closing-hour darkness, indiscreetly swiping a purchase of KY tingle or heat. Demise, giving the family something to ponder while sorting through personal effects.

I own a vibrating foot soaker, moist heating pad, and contoured neck pillow. "Jumping" out of bed to a no-pain morning is a distant memory with the beginning interruption of nocturnal bathroom calls.

The twisted irony...I still have one foot in the age of youth, assumed by my still-needed supply of feminine products. Hormone replacement is in my horizon, and then I can be an official Maxine entry-level recruit...Speak my mind without apology, already a natural.

"When I was young I was called a rugged individualist. When I was in my 50s I was considered eccentric. Here I am doing and saying the same things I did then and I'm labeled senile."
~George Burns~

Copyright © 2009

Big Girls Don't Cry

“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance.”
~Robert Quillen~

Misunderstanding, misperceptions...common social miscues outside of the disabled realm. I encounter misinformed and misguided, often, well-meaning people while I daily vie for the prized coping crown, wearing my practiced smile of Miss Congeniality to deter pity.

I continually learn how to cope, but I still have moments where I look back on years of living with the fallout of disability from my illness. My future still looms with an ominous uncertainty. It amazes me how others assume diagnosis longevity lessens my grief of loss? - especially from those who share my diagnosis.

An individual 'assumed' since I have had Stiff Person Syndrome for years vs. someone newly-diagnosed that I was beyond the 'coping' phase of initial diagnosis. (A big girl.) It was an unintelligent remark, not worthy a reply.

If anything, the years have deepened the pain of loss for me, not just my own, but shared through others...symptom progression and death of friends. Loss has also deepened my appreciation for life's blessings and strengthened my resolve to live forward, but sometimes, big girls do cry.

“There is no reply to the ignorant like keeping silence”
~Proverb quotes~




Copyright © 2009