For many that are facing a terminal condition, once the diagnosis and future prognosis sets in, the question then becomes, what now? The simple task of leaving the house, once progressed to a wheelchair, can be daunting. This is why so many find it easier to just not venture beyond the front door. Yes I am exaggerating this, but it’s to make the point that it is extremely demanding, logistically, to do so. Once progressed to the point of requiring a slew of devices to sustain a quality of life just to exist, it is a monumental task.

So when I asked Meg to travel as a sort of last wish. No we did not call it this, but let’s be honest, with ALS it is. There is no other way it can be described, truthfully. To my surprise, she didn’t bat an eye. She simply said, “OK, how are we going to do this?” We have always wanted to RV the country, so the only immediate concern was finding an accessible RV.

The search was on! Meg and I scoured the interwebs. We did find quite a few, most where after market modified. As soon as we expressed interest, we would quickly find it to be sold. So we began exploring new ones, and quickly found that only two manufacturers of RV’s, make them accessible , Winnebago and Newmar. Newmar is considerably more expensive than Winnebago, by quite a bit. So the hunt for a used Winnebago was on!

Luckily, Meg happened to be searching the Web, and low and behold, Oklahoma City Camping World, had one. Now two years later the RV that had 6K miles on it, has nearly 40K.

What has driven Meg and I to do this? Our spirit of adventure, the desire to see our country, or just pure insanity? I say, all of them! Meg likes to say, “have no regrets”, and I agree with her. Whatever the reason, this is our choice, and we don’t regret it, well there are moments, lol. As with any endeavor there will be challenges, but we overcome. Boy has it been the adventure!

Yes, we have experienced the beauty our country has to offer, but most importantly, the people, the beautiful, kind and generous people we have met! When the media portrays the country as irrevocably divided, we have witnessed the exact opposite first hand. You could say it is the disarming way Meg engages strangers, you have to see it, to believe it. It’s magical, it truly is. Before you know it, total strangers are sharing their lives with her. Or they are listening, hanging on every word, as she shares our lives with them. We have connected with so many people in this exact fashion, time and time again. Often times remaining in touch with them in some way.

I can’t say how many times those she shares with are in awe of her, after discovering that it’s just the two of us, and she does all the driving. Even more astonished when they hear of all the repairs she has undertaken, as a result of adventurous driving techniques, I’ll leave it at that…; -)

Here is a blessing short list of location’s we have visited, since starting traveling in the RV:

• El Paso, hey it’s the gateway to the website west.
• California – Sequoia National Park, Redwood Forest, LA, Paso Robles (wine for meg).
• The Florida Keys, Miami, Tampa Bay
• Niagara Falls, Canada
• All but three states, Alaska will be checked off next week, Hawaii possibly in a year?
• Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Crazy Horse monument
• Yellowstone National Park
• Steven Kings home, in Bangor Maine, we had to!

There are so many more, the list would be far too long, if I included all of them. So yes, we have embarked on an epic adventure of no regrets, long hours on the road and getting on each others nerves, but then again… I don’t really have any of these left. Oh come on, that was funny, you have to admit.

The reality is, let’s be brutally honest, many, if not most of the destinations we visit, are in fact, the last time I will see the them. Additionally many of the person’s living with ALS we meet, well, it is the only time face to face, or one of the last times to do so.

Here lies the lesson:

… With every encounter, every person you meet, leaves a piece of them with you. The time they shared with you, is a gift. Precious to all present, a forever shared moment.

There is a terminal aspect to every day when living with ALS. But not today ALS, NOT TODAY!!

TJO