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Hometown, state: Brunswick, Maine
Age: 37
Family (spouse/partner; child, grandchildren): My wife, Judy, and two grown stepchildren, three grandchildren.
Hobbies/Interests: The sea, psychology, espresso.
Favorite quote: “Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: If you’re alive, it’s not.”
Date of ALS diagnosis: December 2006
Tell us about your life before ALS: I was a soldier, an athlete and a commercial fisherman for 15 years. Married to my angelic wife for 13 of those years. Walked to Maine from Michigan. Had brain surgery twice. I played football, wrestled and weight lifted in my youth.
Tell us about your life with ALS: It first started with leg cramping, which was treated as restless leg syndrome, then my thumb became weak. I had twitching in my upper body, and was sent by my neurologist to Massachusetts General, where I received my diagnosis.
Do you have a “life motto” or profound words to live by? Anything is possible! Live the dream.
Has there been an “aha!” moment or a specific turn of events that has helped you live with ALS? Judy and I went to D.C. to try to get funding for ALS, which passed in 2008, and my diagnosis became military service-connected. That has allowed me to meet other veterans who have lived over 20 years with ALS.
Tell us how ALS has brought new significance to any aspect of your life — family, attitude, hobbies/passions, career, etc.: I have grown to have a much deeper appreciation for everything. It has made me not only see things I’ve never noticed, but moved me to do things I otherwise would never have done. I went to Alaska, went down the Mississippi River, went to Times Square and saw the ball drop in real life. I’m trying to build as many optimists as I can. I have grown to know two of my previous bosses better than I did during all the years I worked for them.
Is there anything else about you and/or ALS that you want to share with people who read your story? Like one motivational lady said when asked what it felt like to be told she was dying, “We’re all dying, but we’re all living, too. There’s no checkout date for anyone.”
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