So Far, So Good
by Dean Kramer
March, 2002
Each day I sit with my trusty computer keyboard and I write about my Life on Cripple Creek as if what I have to say will be posted right here at MSWorld. I think of the letters people have sent me over the months. I remember topics that we people with MS have discussed in chats. I look at the events in my own life. And the essays are getting written. The publisher has given me an idea of how many pages in length this book ought to be. The wonderfully encouraging friend who is acting as my agent (because I have no flair for business) assures me that I'll know when I'm finished. Inadvertently, her words remind me of an old woodcarver I heard interviewed in Maine. Asked if he'd been a woodcarver all his life he succinctly replied, "Not yet."
This disease is so much a part of who I am that I find there are still many things to say about our relationship, mine with MS. I think about the slogan, "I have MS but MS doesn't have me!" While I know the intent of the phrase is to show that one hasn't been defeated by MS, I don't really think of MS and myself as adversaries. We are more like partners— an old married couple, perhaps. I don't think about "fighting" MS but, instead, of learning to work with it as if MS is a more or less troublesome colleague with whom I must deal in order to reach my goals.
Those of you who read this column know of my perceptions regarding MS. I'm continuing to write my way into a deeper understanding. And I'm still having fun. So, that's my update for this month. I'll write again in April. |
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