Make it happen!

This has been a week for discomfort and profound reward.

The two seem to go hand in hand. Step outside your comfort zone and things begin to happen. I don't mean you should consider bungee jumping or sword swallowing, but if there is something you want to accomplish, take that first step. You may not always succeed but you will be enriched by the experience. For me the reward has been meeting some beautiful people.

I've been kicking around the idea of a quilt raffle as a fundraiser for the ALS Association. My sewing machine is vintage and my sewing skills quite rusty and the ticking clock made me turn to more experienced people -- the Cabin Fever Quilt Guild of Orlando. I enjoy their quilt show and saw displays there of the quilts made to support a variety of charities. I contacted the group and Darlene Arnswald took up my request, posted it in their newsletter and got the word out. Two women stepped up -- Joyce Scarbrough and Trish Bowman.

It turns out that Trish is opening her own quilting business and it was an opportune time for her to get an example of her work out there. She's also a take charge kind of woman who didn't let me back out of the idea when my cup-half-empty self had second thoughts.

She embraced my flaws, didn't bat an eye at my total lack of navigation sense. She gave me impeccable directions to her house where we got acquainted and picked out the pattern Then we met -- at a location I could find. From there she drove us to her favorite quilt shop where we picked out the fabric and I met a whole group of lovely women. I had forgotten what sweet spirits quilters have. The quilt, it seems, is going to go from a 'what if' thought to a reality.

That is heady stuff.

To see something you only thought about turn into a real, tangible thing. It was like that in the 1990s when we built our house. One day it was a wish, a dream, and before we knew it, we were moving in to our dream home. Life seemed to take control after that and events dictated where we lived and what we did or didn't do. Money is always a factor.

Yet, in the midst of illness and economic woes and insecurity, we must take that first step to get things moving toward the reality we want. Whatever you have on your 'wish' list or 'if only' list -- take that first step. You know what it is.

And, sometimes, the money appears just when you need it. I am covering the cost of the quilt materials, Trish is donating her time and talent to make and quilt it. I told a colleague where I work about the shopping expedition and she said, "I've been looking for a tangible way to donate something. Let me split the cost with you."

Lyn Rocca -- you rock!!!

Sometimes when you begin something. The right something. It truly has magic as Goethe said.

"Whatever you would do, Or dream of doing, begin it! Boldness has power, genius, and magic in it. Begin it now." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I admit that the quilt seems like a tiny step. But for me it has opened many doors that have been shut for far too long. I am feeling the power that comes from deciding a direction rather than just being buffeted by events. We make those choices each day. Smile at someone or don't -- you set in action a string of events with something so insignificant.

The quilt -- whomever takes it home -- it will give them comfort. And if they are even faintly touched by the pain of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease -- they can use the comfort. Hopefully this first step will have wonderful ripples spreading out in every direction. The money raised will help research and patient care. The process of making the quilt has already brought me in touch with such strong and delightful women. And our purchases are helping a local business through a tough time. So far I see no down side to this choice and it just keeps getting better and better.

First steps are tough, but definitely worth the effort.

Next on my 'I wish' list: Paint the kitchen. Big deal, right? But I want a brown accent wall. Coffee or chocolate brown -- a bit outside of my comfort zone.

But not quite as far as it was before last week.

Where would we be without friends?

When the tough face
challenges,

-- their friends see them through.

That's the case these days as we reach out and ask for donations and support for the ALS Association, the Goldsmith Team and the Walk to Defeat ALS.

People have written checks, offered to walk with us, and asked what else they can do. Virginia Spiegel, a talented (soooo talented!) fabric artist has donated AND mentioned our cause on her blog and testified that the ALS Association is a worthwhile cause. The local quilt guild Cabin Fever Quilters is looking into contributing a raffle quilt so we can raise some more funds with that. Family and friends we haven't seen for more than a decade are demanding to know how they can give and what else needs done. New friends, neighbors, work place colleagues all want to help. And all of their prayers and good wishes keep us going as we face new challenges in our personal life.

We have never been ones to ask, we'd rather be the ones doing and giving, but in the last few years, we find ourselves on the receiving end of so many kindnesses and so much generosity that we can't think about it without getting tears in our eyes.

When Derrol's brother was stricken with ALS it was the 1960s and Tommy was 10 years old. The neurologists had no idea what it was, not even thinking ALS in one his age. Ironic -- he was playing Little League baseball at the time and was stumbling and falling -- these were his first symptoms. I guess he and Lou Gehrig had more in common than we ever expected. Tommy had just turned 18 when he died. He had wasted away to a near skeleton. His voice was gone, but he was as sharp as ever. For a boy/man of that age to watch his body turn on him and know there were no treatments -- no hope....

There were four boys and two girls in that immediate family and they all chipped in to help with Tommy's care and quality of life. Derrol, the oldest, would take Tommy to the high school and literally throw him over his shoulder to take him to classes -- up stairs and down -- rushing to not only get Tommy to his classes but Derrol had to get to his own. Everyone wanted Tommy to live life to the fullest. They all went to hockey games at the arena nearby and the hockey team adopted him as their mascot. Tommy's wheelchair still has a bumper sticker on it with the team's name and logo. All of these years later, he died in 1972, the wheelchair is a reminder -- as if we need one.

We look at our two grown sons and pray, "Not them, please not them."

We not only work for ALS funds to help Derrol, our sons, and to remember Tommy, but for my father. He had a similar neurological disease -- Alzheimer's Disease. We know that research in one 'tangle' disease as they call ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, etc. helps move research forward in all of them. Muscular Dystrophy is also related. So our efforts to help Derrol have a much broader service.

And, sorry, I can't seem to stop writing about this once I get started. One more thing. Our military men and women especially those who served in the Gulf War are from 35 to 60 percent more likely to get ALS than the general population. Now we see a cluster of ALS diagnosis in people who were involved with NASA and Patrick Air Force Base. There is a study going on right now to find out the common denominator.

Sadly most people stricken are hardy, athletic, healthy people whose muscles shrivel and waste and usually within 3-6 years they are totally incapacitated and die. About 90 percent of those diagnosed have no idea why they have it. It is called sporadic and hits for no seeming reason at all. Five to 10 percent have the familial or inherited form that Derrol was diagnosed with.

ALS Association funds research and offers support and supplies and equipment (at no charge) to patients of ALS -- I don't know what we would do without this group of people. Between our support group at ALS Association in Winter Park and the Florida Chapter as well as our dear friend Gary Presley, Derrol has quality of life and is learning about living with a disability.

Our friends running the Florida Chapter of ALS Association say we've set out a really tough goal to reach -- $5000. They're probably right. But I think their goal may be tougher -- a cure for ALS. We are 1/5th of the way to our goal -- with help we can make it! We live in hope, it is the only thing available to people with ALS until we find treatments and cures.

With help from our friends, we can get rid of this and many other nasty diseases that seem to target our best and brightest and bravest. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and donations. Just knowing that someone cares is a priceless gift.

If you care to donate, please click here and then push the Make a donation button, follow the directions and don't forget to hit SUBMIT! And please know how much we appreciate your help in this project we cannot complete alone.