hope

My multiple sclerosis has made me more suspicious

As I’ve mentioned a time or two, my wife and I have three boys. Although they’re all under the age of 12, they’ve started to talk like the budding teenagers they are. As they mingle with peers more than their parents, their vocabulary in particular becomes less like ours every…

Pain and Positivity: My Experience With Plasmapheresis

“‘Cause I would never break your heart/ I would only rearrange/ All the other working parts will stay in place.” ā€” Biffy Clyro, a Scottish rock band If youā€™ve spent any time in a hospital, you know that it never gets completely dark. Thereā€™s always a light flickering somewhere, a…

The Past Gives Us Hope for the Future

The times weā€™re living in feel surreal to me. Iā€™m not talking about the current state of U.S. politics, though my opinions could fill a book. Iā€™m talking about how I feel when I read about advances that have been made since my diagnosis three decades ago, and…

Loving Yourself in Sickness and Health

I am frequently commended for my demeanor. For my strength amid pain and adversity. For my optimism and happy disposition. For making the most of my circumstances. I love my steadfast faith. I love my fierce determination. I love my decision to combat pain and adversity with hope. I love…

The Right Hand of Lightness

There’s a joy in going on a long journey in which I get the luxury of sleeping through the whole thing. It’s practically magical. Or scientifically, like teleportation. I was there and now I’m here without any effort! I’ll never be able to afford a first-class bed on a…

And the Good News Is …

Getting started on any career is fraught with difficulty, and the trail that got me to my base camp was truly meandering. It was nearly as convoluted as that sentence! At 23, without meaning to, I found myself being a putative theater critic. Within months, under the pressure of…

MS and Mental Illness: The World Needs You

Spring has sprung! As I look around, Mother Earth is in bloom. Trees are sprouting new leaves, plants are growing, and the grass isĀ green once again. I love spring and all that it represents ā€” hopes for new birth and rebirth. For those who are unaware, May is Mental…

A Beacon of Hope Amid MS-Related Pain

Do you have pain? Although prone to subjectivity, I am certain the majority of you silently said yes. I did. I hesitated to write this, as pain, from the definition of it to the management of it, is idiosyncratic. Rather than draw hard and fast lines, I prefer to…

We’re Still Here

We celebrated my dear friendā€™s pastoral anniversary on Sunday, and the service was dynamic. Although I do not want to make this column a religious sermon, I hope toĀ use the message from the guest speaker to inspire you. It does not matter what faith, color, or creed that…

Choosing to Infuse Myself with Optimism

Living with an incurable, progressive disease can be physically and emotionally exhausting. Iā€™ve always been a girl who thrives on proof and assurances, and there seem to be little of either where MS is concerned. Itā€™s taken me quite a while to settle into the awkward instability that is ambiguity,…

Spring is an Apt Time to Reflect on MS and Hope

T.S. Eliotā€™s opens his masterwork The Waste Land with four stunning lines of verse: April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixingĀ  Memory and desire, stirringĀ  Dull roots with spring rain.Ā  It seems odd to say that April is…

My Fight Song for Multiple Sclerosis

Most of us have heard Rachel Platten’s Fight Song. It became an anthem for many people who struggle with illness and adversity. Fight Song has become one of my favorite odes. As a writer, I love to listen to the words of song lyrics. The music is…

Hope Lights the Way to a Cure for MS

ā€œThis first candle in the advent wreath,ā€ I told my kids as I clicked the lighter and set its flame atop the wick, ā€œrepresents hope. What does that word mean to you guys?ā€ In the warm glow of the purple taper, we talked about everything from wishes and…

My MS and Faith of the Mustard Seed

I have written nine articles so far with shared ideas of what has helped me in this overwhelming battle with multiple sclerosis. My experiences and successes are shared in the hope that others will be helped as well. This 10thĀ article is about what comforts and sustains me the most…