My little brother Todd recently posted an article on his blog at Neva Story. Here's a small excerpt from the article I thought was exceptionally poignant:
"After an ALS diagnosis, we need to grieve, and not worry about where it’s going to take us. Grief is a process, not just an emotion. Grieving is something that we need to do, something that requires action. One of those actions is that, eventually, we need to gain perspective, that life is out of our control and the only thing we can control is a response.
We tell them that one of the perspectives that can be gained is that we have the blessing of time.
Reading from our book Heavy, I said, “Every one of us will die, some much sooner than others, and some more tragically than others. Some will have their lives snatched from them, leaving their family shocked. I, however, am on notice. I have time.”
Kristin told them that the only thing that we can control is our response.
Again, reading from our book, she said, “We can’t control this disease, but we can control our response to it. Todd has chosen joy instead of anger and bitterness, and that makes it easier for me. If I am stressed, melting down and falling apart, that will be the reaction my kids will see, and they will follow my lead. We need to grieve, but we also need to be thankful for today’s joys.”
Kristin encouraged them to keep seeking God, even in anger and sadness.
“He’s God. He can handle our emotions. He understands our pain. Jesus was in emotional anguish when he went to the cross for us.” And she said, “As ALS keeps on robbing Todd of functionality, I keep crying out to God, sometimes in tears, sometimes in anger. He doesn’t always erase our pain, but He is with us.”"