Hollis

June 23, 2002

So I stayed south of Hollis in Massachusetts the night before, and I got to

New Hampshire a lot sooner than I thought, but Rita and put up with me

on Saturday even though I showed up at about 9:30 AM rather than noon like

I said I would.

I think Bill and his wife showed up around one or so. Bill is the

one who has Multiple Sclerosis, and now gets around in one of those powered

wheelchairs (a Jazzy, as I recall). Then Jimmy and Fay showed up. You may

recall that Jimmy is a paraplegic, as the result of a diving accident many

years ago and Fay had her own battle with polio, leaving her legs pretty

much useless now. Talk about spirit. It is sometimes easy to trivialize

stuff along the lines of thinking we have it rough having no shoes, and

then seeing someone with no feet, but these folks drove themselves there

(Fay has hand controls and " gets " to do the driving) and they have this

really neat lift van. They won't get two powered wheelchairs (Fay's is

manual) because they say they might wreck running into each other. They

say they almost do now as it is. It's hard to say exactly when

rolled up (she's Rita and 's nextdoor neighbor -- that's why it's hard

to say exactly when). She's got a Jazzy too, but I think it's a slightly

smaller model than Bill had. Then of course there was Alan, his wife

a, and their daughter Liz. I used to have to remind people that

" Computers Save Us Time " after they had had a rough experience. I guess

Alan fell victim to that, because the computer directions he got to Rita

and 's took him through some " scenic " route through Massachusetts. Not

that they were that late or anything, but it wasn't hardly the trip they

had in mind. Anyway, Alan's wheelchair will do almost anything, not only

does it go backward and forward, he also showed us how it would recline and

tilt too. He didn't show us how to fly it around the room, however,

although if you found the right combination of buttons it might solve world

hunger.

There were only three of us there with PLS (Rita, Alan and me), but we were

all gimps, and it didn't seem to matter much what each of our actual

diseases were. We chatted and swapped lies and ate good food and all too

quickly it was getting towards evening and people had to leave.

On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate it a 9.5 at least. (Why not a 10, you might

ask. We ran into a problem like that some years ago in climbing. We

figured the toughest climb was a 5.9. Then someone climbed an " impossible "

6. That gave rise to 5.10, 5.11 and so on. I certainly wouldn't want MY

rating scheme to suffer such an embarrassment. That's why I try to save

some room at the top.) Splendid people, great food, good conversation...

Anyhow Rita's husband deserves special mention. As many of you know

he has plenty of laurels he could rest on if he chose (he fought in the

Normandy invasion, among other stuff). But rest he does not. It seems

like he's always doing something to help, be it washing dishes, getting a

door, feeding someone, looking out for this or that. He doesn't look like

it. He isn't a small guy, and he looks tough as nails. But you couldn't

ask for a more devoted or nicer guy. It seems that both Rita and feel

luckier than the other to have one another.

So they took me out to breakfast this morning and then showed me the way to

Maine, where I am now.

Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA ghekhuis@...

Illiterate? Write for free help

June 23, 2002

Yes, Galen it was a nice get together. Looks like you arrived at your

destination safe and sound, thats good. You did goo my friend, like I

knew you would, than you.

Yes, there was such a mix of people, like Galen said, but regardless

what our individual problems are, we are all " one " , and I think thats

what made my PLS Party such a success, and I truly was. Not only did we

enjoy " new friends " like Alan and Galen, but were able to meld " old

friends " , and it made and I realize how lucky we are to just have

the friendship of all these beautiful " gimps " (to quote Galen).

And Galen is such a gentle delightful person, and we didn't have any

problem with him showing up hours before her suppose too (any earlier

her would have caught me in the shower). After all our guest left,he sat

and giggled at I " Love Lucy " with and I.

..

I thought when I planned this gathering, I might be making a mistake,

but no way. It is so good for all of us to meet and learn from others

who are in the same (in some cases) and going thru the same turmoils we

all face. So I would do it again (when my energy is restored.

Galen, I think I did see Alan's chair lift off once LOL! Thanks all

who came yesterday, it really was a wonderful day, even though it

rained. God Bless!

Rita

Luv & Hugs!

*************************************

Some people succeed in spite of their handicap. Others succeed because

of them.

Lord Keep Your Arm Around My Shoulder And Your Hand Over My Mouth

" Reseachers have determined that it is impossible to develope eyestrain

from looking on the bright side of things. "

June 23, 2002

Everything sounds wonderful. I am sorry that I missed it. Next time---

Dolores

Hollis

> So I stayed south of Hollis in Massachusetts the night before, and I got

to

> New Hampshire a lot sooner than I thought, but Rita and put up with

me

> on Saturday even though I showed up at about 9:30 AM rather than noon like

> I said I would.

>

> I think Bill and his wife showed up around one or so. Bill is the

> one who has Multiple Sclerosis, and now gets around in one of those

powered

> wheelchairs (a Jazzy, as I recall). Then Jimmy and Fay showed up. You

may

> recall that Jimmy is a paraplegic, as the result of a diving accident many

> years ago and Fay had her own battle with polio, leaving her legs pretty

> much useless now. Talk about spirit. It is sometimes easy to trivialize

> stuff along the lines of thinking we have it rough having no shoes, and

> then seeing someone with no feet, but these folks drove themselves there

> (Fay has hand controls and " gets " to do the driving) and they have this

> really neat lift van. They won't get two powered wheelchairs (Fay's is

> manual) because they say they might wreck running into each other. They

> say they almost do now as it is. It's hard to say exactly when

> rolled up (she's Rita and 's nextdoor neighbor -- that's why it's hard

> to say exactly when). She's got a Jazzy too, but I think it's a slightly

> smaller model than Bill had. Then of course there was Alan, his wife

> a, and their daughter Liz. I used to have to remind people that

> " Computers Save Us Time " after they had had a rough experience. I guess

> Alan fell victim to that, because the computer directions he got to Rita

> and 's took him through some " scenic " route through Massachusetts.

Not

> that they were that late or anything, but it wasn't hardly the trip they

> had in mind. Anyway, Alan's wheelchair will do almost anything, not only

> does it go backward and forward, he also showed us how it would recline

and

> tilt too. He didn't show us how to fly it around the room, however,

> although if you found the right combination of buttons it might solve

world

> hunger.

>

> There were only three of us there with PLS (Rita, Alan and me), but we

were

> all gimps, and it didn't seem to matter much what each of our actual

> diseases were. We chatted and swapped lies and ate good food and all too

> quickly it was getting towards evening and people had to leave.

>

> On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate it a 9.5 at least. (Why not a 10, you might

> ask. We ran into a problem like that some years ago in climbing. We

> figured the toughest climb was a 5.9. Then someone climbed an

" impossible "

> 6. That gave rise to 5.10, 5.11 and so on. I certainly wouldn't want MY

> rating scheme to suffer such an embarrassment. That's why I try to save

> some room at the top.) Splendid people, great food, good conversation...

>

> Anyhow Rita's husband deserves special mention. As many of you know

> he has plenty of laurels he could rest on if he chose (he fought in the

> Normandy invasion, among other stuff). But rest he does not. It seems

> like he's always doing something to help, be it washing dishes, getting a

> door, feeding someone, looking out for this or that. He doesn't look like

> it. He isn't a small guy, and he looks tough as nails. But you couldn't

> ask for a more devoted or nicer guy. It seems that both Rita and

feel

> luckier than the other to have one another.

>

> So they took me out to breakfast this morning and then showed me the way

to

> Maine, where I am now.

>

> Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA ghekhuis@...

> Illiterate? Write for free help

>

June 23, 2002