waiting

I thought more about what moved me from Weyman's speech on the phone last week and I figured it out. It's that people with progressive and severe MS are still waiting. Which makes it all about me... at the Challenge Walk I spoke and referenced a speech I gave at my high school graduation, the message of which was that I could go away to college and conquer the world and that my mom would still be there waiting for me. Which she is, after more than 14 years, still the youngest resident at her care facility. Waiting.

I know it has been a long wait, and it will continue to require people with MS to wait until we find treatments that stop disease progression, a cure, a way to repair nervous system damage, and even prevention of MS. Weekends like this one, with thousands of cyclists raising money and riding for our cause doesn't feel like waiting. Going to Disneyland before it opens with Sam Rubin from KTLA doesn't feel like waiting. Our chapter president getting an interview on Channel 6 doesn't feel like waiting. The sight of that much support sometimes lures me in to believing that the wait is almost over. But it's not. Another Bike Tour means another year has passed and we haven't yet found the cure.

~Beth