~and one of those people was me~

It was a beautiful day in Sedgwick County, Kansas for yesterday's annual "Walk to Defeat ALS" of 2015.  I made the quick journey home to join my sister-in-law, nephew, and other friends to walk in memory of my late brother, Mike Scott of Haven, Kansas.  I was so very thankful that I did.

There is something very heartwarming and most poignant about seeing the placards of all those folks who have experienced the heartache of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or more commonly called ALS.  The signs bearing their names and photos lined the sidewalks in the area around the Waterfront on the eastern side of town, giving testament to the fact that Lou Gehrig's disease isn't particular about who it affects.  Men or women, young or old, rich or poor, it doesn't really matter.  When ALS strikes, it does so with a vengeance .  Right now there is no cure yet researchers continue to try and find the manner in which it begins and how its progression goes.  

May there some day be a cure.

This was my 3rd time to be able to walk the slightly over mile long route and even though I had to drive 5 hours from here in Texas to be able to do so, it was so very well worth it.  Each year it seems as if the number of walkers grows steadily larger and sadly, the number of signs erected to honor both those living with ALS and those who have already passed away from it grows larger as well.

It bears repeating over and over again.  
May there some day be a cure.

The sky was a beautiful color of robin's egg blue with a smattering of white clouds floating in it.  There was a bit of a breeze and the temperatures remained quite pleasant in the mid 60's.  It was nice to get the chance to visit with a dear friend named Lori from back in our days of growing up in Haven.  Lori joined us for the walk yesterday and how wonderful it was to know that she cared enough to take the time out of her busy Saturday to do so.  

At about the quarter mile mark we came upon my brother's sign with his picture placed upon it.  I love that photo of happier times for him as he flashed the "peace" sign for all to see.  Whenever I see that sign,  it's as if he is sending a message to us all.

"Don't worry about me.  I'm ok.  Hey, I am even better than ok!"

This year we left him some of our own personal messages on his sign and actually that felt kind of nice to do.  It's been 8 years now since he left us and even though we miss him each day and continue to love him still, time went on.  Life went on as well.

I have about 12,000 gazillion hours of work ahead of me this day with more things to accomplish than I will ever be able to in the course of one day.  Being gone for two days to Kansas will tell on me "big time" but I do not care.  It will all get done and what doesn't, well it probably wasn't all that important to begin with.  I did the right thing by being in Kansas and honoring the memory of a man who meant the world to a whole lot of people.

And one of those people was me.

We found his sign in record time yesterday along the water's edge.

I was so happy to run into several people that I knew from back home in Haven and Hutchinson.  This is my good friend from high school who was there walking for someone as well.  It had been a long time since I had seen Elaine and it was surely good to visit with her for bit before the walk started.

Telling Mike hello and how much he was still loved and missed by all of the people that he touched in his very short life.

The Mike Scott crew from the very first time we walked for him a few years back.

This is my little sister Cindy with me at our first walk in 2010.

Mike served in the Army during the Vietnam War.  According to the ALS homepage, military veterans are at high risk for being stricken with the disease.  My cousin, also a military veteran, died of ALS a few years before my brother did.



To learn more about the disease of ALS, please go to the following website~

www.alsa.org