Today I want to talk about one of my former middle school teachers, Mrs. Sarah Alley. I remember her being so vibrant and enthusiastic and WAY taller than me (something silly to remember huh?). On the first day of school I remember her giving her "get to know me" speech and showing us all these pictures about her life way back when and currently. She took me individually up to the board to show me an old softball photo of when she was a kid, then she pointed at one girl and told me that it was my mom. Throughout the week she would share stories about how her and my mom were very good friends and extremely competitive on the field. And then I would go home and ask my mom for more stories. Right then I thought "oh if she's best friends with my mom then I need to be best friends with her". She might not have known it, but I loved that woman. Her class period was the only one I looked forward to during the day and she made learning (even boring subjects like history) so much fun. Those two years of having her back to back were probably some of my fondest memories.
Sometime when I was finishing up high school Mrs. Alley was diagnosed with ALS/PMA. Long story short - our little town was heartbroken. Everyone knew her personally, or of her and we all shed many many tears. But through it all and still today, she's still the same vibrant and enthusiastic person I knew several years ago. She retired from her job as a teacher in 2015 and is now blogging about her personal experiences, feelings, living with ALS/PMS, and just general thoughts. She started blogging in 2016 (which I didn't know about until about a month ago) and has around 60+ posts. I unfortunately have only read 10-15 of them but I have a goal to finish them all because they are wonderful! One thing I love about her blogs is that despite her exhaustion and daily struggles, they aren't all she talks about. She moves past them. But I currently have two favorites, one really recent - "Birthday Trappings" and one from May 2016 - "Lasts". And they aren't my favorite because they have a dollop of daisy on top of them, but because they are raw. Both of these posts include emotional and physical details about her life and living with ALS. The one titled "Lasts" talks about just what you think it would. She talks about how having a disorder like ALS can make your lasts pretty vivid. She mentions the last time she walked without a cane, the last time she went to work, and the last time she drove. The one titled "Birthday Trappings" was about her 48th birthday, which just happened on June 3rd. In this one she includes a picture of what her view is from her bed, including her nightstand with her machine on it. She mentions that even though it is her birthday they keep their daily routine (they meaning her husband and son who live with her and take care of her). She enjoys oatmeal and coffee with her husband but then the crackling and wheezing begins. Her son has to hook her up to a coughing and suctioning machine to help her breath because her lungs are giving out on her. She then talks about how after all that is all over that is when she does her reading and writing and on that day, she typed through the tears so she could celebrate her birthday accordingly.
Some of the blogs have made me happy and put a smile on my face knowing that she is still enjoying her life but others have just absolutely broke my heart. Just as these two did, and I think that is because I have a personal connection with her and because I am more knowledgable about the disease now than I was when she first got diagnosed. Because I didn't know about how public she was with her life, I didn't want to bombard her with a million questions and emails. I am kind of upset that I didn't know about these personal entry's because I would have definitely done my case study over her to get on a personal level with someone. Anyways, I am going to keep up with her blog to the best of my abilities and continue my learning of ALS through her writings. I hope you check them out from the link below!
http://www.stategazette.com/blogs/2051
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