Tuesdays with Morrie and Mondays with Herman
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?
One of my very best friends in college died of ALS... It is a horrible disease! He just wasted away. They finally had to tape his eyes open, when he wanted to be "up", so to speak. I can't imagine such torture...
Very sad!
I had not paid attention to this disease ALS until 2 years ago when a friend passed away, two weeks ago one of my cousins passed away at age 54 from the same disease, she lived in Florida, my aunt, her mother, told me it happened very fast..I pray a cure is found soon, they do not know what causes it...