My Mother –
           My Inspiration
                             by Fran Caldwell 
                                  Mississippi
        
I was diagnosed with MS in 1994, just three days before my mother died, and she remains my inspiration even today.

Laura Surratt Stephens was a formidable woman. She was a really "old fashion" mother who saw that her children were fed, disciplined and well loved. Going to Church was not an option. We went no matter what, and came home to sit down to an "old-fashioned" Sunday dinner around the table.

She outlived two husbands and buried her youngest son, yet she still continued with her motherly love and "duties" for the rest of us.

When she became wheelchair bound (due to degenerative arthritis) she didn't slow down or become" handicapped." She maintained her household chores and her outside flower garden. When she had to go anywhere, she would roll out to her car, get out of her wheelchair, balancing herself against the car, fold up the wheelchair, "throw" it into the backseat and take off. She did her own grocery shopping and even took neighbors to do their shopping or anywhere they needed to go. Her passion was cooking and one could visit her home and be treated to a culinary, "mouth-watering" something to eat.

So when fatigue, tremors and the feeling of complete uselessness kick in for me, I think back on my mother and how she let nothing keep her down. It gives me the strength and determination to pick myself up and continue on. 

                        All materials published in LivingMS™ 
                            are protected by copyright laws.