My Top Three Things I Miss Before ALS.

In The Mind of: 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔑𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔖𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔟𝔢

My mind is still very vivid with memories before ALS! How about yours?

I’ve been lying in bed for a few days, reflecting on life before ALS turned everything upside down. I kept thinking about the top three things I miss most about my old life. It’s hard to narrow it down to just three when, truthfully, you want everything back.

After some thought, my top three are:

1. Being able to hold my loved ones.

2. Cooking for my family.

3. Teaching Karate.

   
   

   There are no words to describe the wonderful feeling of holding a loved one. That sense of comfort, of making them feel like everything will be okay, is truly priceless.

   
   

   I loved cooking. I still cherish memories of my mother letting me do simple tasks in the kitchen for the first time. I was only five years old when I started. As a teenager, I’d wake up early on Sundays to make breakfast for the family—a small way to give my mother a break.

   
   

   As I grew older, I developed a knack for looking at a dish and replicating it. Funny how life works. Before I got married, my wife once told me, “I just wanted you to know—I never learned to cook.” I laughed so hard and reassured her, “Don’t worry, because I do.” She was so shocked by my answer, and we both laughed about it.

   
   

   Then there were my Dojo years. I loved being in the gym, spending three to four hours a day, five times a week, practicing Karate. It saved me from the streets and the bad influences I had growing up. After earning my brown belt, I never stopped teaching. Just before I got sick, I was working on my second black belt. If it weren’t for ALS, I’d probably be at a Master level by now.

   
   

   The crazy thing is, just as I started writing this, my wife came into the room and said, “I really miss your cooking and when we used to go to the parks.” She loves the outdoors, and I used to take her to a different park every weekend. The timing of her words and my writing this was uncanny. I didn’t have the heart to ask her what the third thing she misses most is. Some time has passed since I wrote this. My wife gave me her number 3 without my asking. Her third was, that she misses my smile. Internally my heart broke. I kept my cool and wrote I love you on my eye gaze device. The time we have in this world ends quickly so, take every moment and enjoy it.

   
   

   If you don’t mind sharing, what are the top three things you miss the most?