Turning 50 With MS: A Time to Look Forward and Back

When I was 30 years old and living in Ithaca, NY, I had what felt like an epiphany. While walking past a renowned Buddhist monastery after a haircut one day, I was struck by the thought that I would not live to see 50. I perceived this not as a reasoned assessment based on the fact that my father’s generation of his family was the first to live past 50 in over 150 years, but rather as a stop-in-your-tracks truth spoken from somewhere outside of my being. In the years since, I’ve tucked away the memory of that moment and its sobering message, only recalling it now and again. Gin and Tonics for Lunch It’s a beautiful midday here in my corner of the world. The sun is bright, the clouds are few, the temperature is pleasant, and the light breeze carries the mingled scents of salt from the sea and freshly mown hay from the mountain fields. And I’m halfway through my first gin and tonic. This is the last day I will spend in my forties … so if my long-ago epiphany is correct, why not have a gin and tonic for lunch? I have no desire for this thing to come true. In fact, I’ve made a fair good few plans for the coming weeks and months (and next year) that I fully intend to see out. I’m not courting anything but a long life. Still, milestone birthdays are as good a time as any to look back and to look forward. Working Through MS Day By Day I have lived with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than 15 years — 30 percent of my life — and blogging about it wit...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: multiple sclerosis life with MS Living with MS MS and family trevis gleason Source Type: blogs