🖤 The Lonely Friend

🖤 The Lonely Friend

Through the years of my journey, one companion has remained steady. Not by choice. Not with comfort. Just... constant.

Its name is Loneliness.

I don’t know why it chooses us—us meaning PALS and CALS. Maybe it senses our vulnerability. Maybe it's drawn to the silence left behind when friends and family disappear. It's not as if ALS is contagious. You can’t catch it by sharing a laugh or sitting with us in stillness. Yet people vanish. One by one. Slowly at first, then in waves.

Then there’s the public. On sidewalks, in stores, at parks. Strangers glance and then quickly look away, as if eye contact might unravel their world. We become invisible, ghosts in plain sight. A simple “hello” would mean everything. But instead, they hurry past, letting our humanity fade into the background.

At home, it can feel even harsher. The walls close in like a quiet prison. Visits become rare—occasional at best. The air grows heavy. The silence is no longer peaceful. It’s echoing.

Caregivers feel this too. They stand beside us, shoulder our burdens, witness our pain, and still—Loneliness doesn't spare them either. It circles us both like a storm cloud refusing to pass.

You can be in a room full of people, in a lively crowd, even surrounded by chatter—and yet still feel alone. Because Loneliness has this cunning way of clinging to your spirit, whispering things that sink deep.

And sometimes, Loneliness doesn't show up alone.

It brings guests. Depression. Anxiety. Uninvited, but persistent. Together, they’re a trio of invisible tormentors. You find yourself cornered, asking how much fight is left in you. Wondering which is harder: grieving the loss of what was, or battling these phantoms day after day.

But I fight. We fight. Not because it’s easy, but because our mental stability is worth defending. Because even in the darkest spaces, a flicker of light—just a visit, a smile, a kind word—can break the grip Loneliness tries to hold.

If you are reading this and know someone facing ALS, I ask you, truly—don’t be one of those who disappears. Don’t let Loneliness be their only friend. Sit with us. Laugh with us.

Look us in the eye and see us.

We are still here.

We still matter.

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓡𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓢𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓫𝓮