ALS WALK

It was a cool but sunny morning for the Knoxville ALS walk on September 24.  There must have been several hundred people participating in the walk.  I believe the total amount raised was close to $100,000.  Our Family and Friends team raised approximately $800.  The team wore tee shirts with "Walking for Pappaw Knight".  The fact that my book was for sale with proceeds going to the ALS Association was not announced until the end of the event, so I only sold 17 copies.  At least 17 more people can have a better understanding of the havoc caused by this terrible disease.

WALK TO DEFEAT ALS

Every ninety minutes one American dies of Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), while another is stricken with the illness.  This progressive neuromuscular disease can strike anyone at anytime; slowly robbing the body of the ability to walk, speak, swallow, and breathe while the mind and senses remain unaffected.

The disease is named for New York Yankees legend Lou Gehrig who was diagnosed with the illness in 1939.  He died two years later at age 37.  Although many things have changed since 1941, one thing has not changed--there is still no known cause, effective treatment, or cure for ALS.

Every year throughout this country, walks are held to raise money to defeat ALS.  Contributions collected through the ALS walks fund global research and provide programs and services to patients and families challenged by this horrendous disease.  Believe me, the challenges can be beyond imagination.   

I am a member of a Family and Friends Team and will be participating in the ALS Association Tennessee Chapter WALK TO DEFEAT ALS to be held on September 24th, 2011 here in Knoxville..  The walk is scheduled for 10AM at Victor Ashe Park.  This chapter provides leadership in raising awareness of the disease, promoting patient advocacy, and funding research to find a cure.

Our team will be walking in memory of my husband, Bill Knight, who died of ALS in August of 2004.  My book, A JOURNEY THROUGH FIRE (Memoir of an ALS Caregiver) will be available during the walk for a $10 donation to the ALS Association.

You may donate to our team by going to http://www.walktodefeatals.org/ and following the prompts that will take you to our team's donation page.  Any amount will be greatly appreciated.     

ALS Walk Kick-off Luncheon

On July 28, My daughter-in-law, Cindy, and I attended an ALS walk kick-off luncheon.  It was mostly an informational meeting about the Walk to Defeat ALS to be held on September 24, 2011 here in Knoxville.  We sat at a table with a mother who told us about her 39 year old son who is struggling with ALS.  She is heartbroken concerning his situation  A young woman with the disease who appeared to be in her thirties was in a wheelchair.  Her speech was but a whisper.  Her husband fed her lunch because she had lost most of the use of her arms and hands.  These are only additional reminders of the heartache and tragedy caused by this unrelenting, dreadful illness.

We are getting a team together to "Walk for Papaw Knight" on September 24.  Cindy is our team caption. I have permission from the ALS Executive Director for Tennessee to sell a select number of my books during the walk event.  Proceeds from the book sales will be donated to the ALS Association.

I have learned over my long nursing career that every disease or illness has an etiology or cause.  The mystery surrounding ALS lies deeply hidden somewhere.  It is only through the efforts via research of organizations like the ALS Association  and God's mercy that the mystery will be uncovered.  I encourage all who are able to donate and support those who are walking to defeat ALS.      

Interview in the Powell Shopper-News

I was interviewed by Greg Householder for the Powell Shopper-News about my book, A Journey Through Fire. Click the link below to read the newspaper interview

Author Interview

He Alone is Our Peace

My five year old granddaughter, Emma Grace, and I visited the cemetery today and placed new flowers on her Papaw's grave.  She picked up several pink roses from the ground, which had been scattered by the wind and placed them in the vase on his headstone.  She said, "Papaw will love these up in Heaven."  In the process of gathering the flowers, she wandered among the gravestones looking especially for monuments with angels.  She has learned that most of the time angels mark the graves of children.  She found two angel markers today and asked me to read the names on the marble.  A name on one stone was Katie Grace.  She told me she has a friend named Gracie Kate. There was a photo of the child incorporated on the stone.  It's difficult to know how children percieve death, especially the death of a child.

A recent severe tornado-like thunder storm has felled several old trees all over the cemetery grounds and there are huge brush piles and fresh tree stumps scattered about.  A large tree had obviously fell near Bill's grave and had knocked over a near-by marble stone.  Emma Grace was upset because the stone was lying on the ground, and she wanted to know who would fix it.  She said she was glad the tree had not fallen on her Papaw's grave.

Emma had me read her Papaw's name and the inscription on the headstone, "He alone is our peace", a Bible verse from Ephesians 2:14.  She ask me, "What does that mean?".  I told her it meant that Papaw was happy in Heaven...resting with Jesus.  After we completed arranging the flowers in the marble vase, we turned to leave the gravesite and Emma Grace said, "Bye, bye Papaw, I love you".

WHAT AMERICA MEANS TO ME

Many will celebrate the independence of our nation this fourth of July weekend.  Flags of celebration will be flying all over this land of freedom, but will the real significance of that star spangled, red, white, and blue banner be fully understood. The following is an excerpt about the flag of the United States of America from a writing by Francis Cardinal Spellman. May his words be remembered each and every time we are blessed to see Old Glory flying on this Independence Day.

                        What America Means to Me

What does America mean to me?  My heart is drenched with desire adequately to express the great gratitude to God which swells my soul for the manifold glories with which He has graced America, santuary of liberty, democracy and faith.

...America means our flag, red with charity for all men and all nations of good will; red too, with courage to achieve the liberties of man by personal sufferings and sacrifice.  White for the basic righteousness of our national purpose.  Blue for our trust and confidence in God, our Heavenly Father, to whom our forebears long ago dedicated this land of loviness.

I have seen our flag flying aloft in all corners of the world, the flag of freedom that symbolizies justice and love of man for God and his fellowmen, stark contradiction to the red flag of tyranny, symbol of serfdom and pagan opression.  I have seen our American flag in wartime and peacetime; and, as a loyal son of America, I am testament to the truth that even in the time of war the message of that flag means peace.  With rapt heart I recall the sight of our flag at the masthead of a ship, weaving bright colors above the turbulent waters beneath a sullen gray sky, which seems to reflect the world of today, dark with forebodings of disasters yet to come, gray with the accumulated clouds of evils and errors of the past.

Suddenly a gust of wind enfolds the listless standard at the masthead and there streams Old Glory, challenging the somber colorings of the sky.

Father's Day

"By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact," said General Douglas MacAuthur.  "But I am prouder, infinitely prouder, to be a father.  A soldier destroys in order to build.  The father only builds, he never destroys.  The one has the potentialities of death; the other embodies creation and life.  And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battles of life are mightier still.  My hope is that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle, but in the home, repeating with him one simple daily prayer, 'Our Father which art in Heaven."

May God bless every father, everwhere.