The NewsTalkers

The book "Tuesdays with Morrie" told the very touching story of a man named Morrie, a retired philosophy Professor, dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The book was written by a past student of Morrie, who made it a point to visit his mentor every Tuesday and gain Morrie's pearls of wisdom before he died. I read the book and thought the story was very touching. So after I read the book, I promised myself to live my life in a positive, productive way and to savor every moment I had with my loved ones.  But the lessons of the book never prepared me for what was to come.  The book was trite compared to real life.

Six years ago at Thanksgiving, I looked across the table at my Uncle Herman.  His mouth seemed a little droopy, his speech a little slurred. "Hey Uncle Herman", I said. "Did you notice that your mouth is kind of drooping?  My Aunt Phyllis, Herman's wife, interjected, "It is, isn't it.  And he's slurring his words, too.  I told him to go to the doctor, but he keeps saying it's nothing."  "She worries too much, it's nothing", he replied in his very Brooklyn/Bronx accent.  To my uncle, this was a nothing.  He was very stoic, a trait found on my father's side of the family.  Besides, a few months earlier, my Aunt and Uncle had lost their only child, my cousin Paul to a lung infection at the age of 41.  He was unmarried and had no children. Paul was their singular joy in their life. A little droop in the corner of his mouth was the last thing on his mind.

But a month went by, and he wasn't getting better, so my aunt and I convinced my uncle that he needed to go to his doctor to rule out a stroke.  After undergoing routine tests that all were negative, his doctor sent him to a neurologist.  After another battery of tests, the neurologist called my Uncle and Aunt into his…