Update

The "Walk to D'Feet ALS" was a great success. I don't have the final team total for "Claudia's Champions" but I did receive this email from the ALS Association:

"On behalf of the entire Indiana ALS community, we want to say "Thank You!" for making our 8th annual Central Indiana Walk to D'Feet ALS such a success! We are grateful for the tremendous commitment and support each of you demonstrated last weekend and leading up to the event in Indianapolis....it was a glorious day in so many ways!

I am very pleased to share that our preliminary Central Indiana Walk results have exceeded $85,000. This includes almost $34,000 in on-line credit card donations, everything we collected at the walk, and what was sent to us before hand. This does not yet include many contributions still in route to us from Team Captains and individuals. We extend our deepest appreciation to you, your family, your friends, your co-workers, and our local volunteers and corporate sponsors!

And the giving isn't over yet.....Historically, we continue to receive a significant volume of contributions following the walk, and this has already been the case over the past several days. Many of you will also receive additional donations in the days and weeks ahead, and we ask that you handle those just as you did donations received prior to the walk. You may still enter checks on-line and watch your team tally grow, or forward them directly to us to be entered. Whatever you do send to the ALS office, be sure to clearly indicate the Team Captain or Team Name and we'll make sure the proper team gets credit for the funds raised. You may also continue to encourage supporters to make credit card donations to the walk on-line.

Please send outstanding donations to:

The ALS Association, Indiana Chapter

6525 E. 82nd Street, Suite 115

Indianapolis, IN 46250

(Reminder - please convert cash collected to checks and note the Team Name!)

I know many of you are eager to know your team total, but that takes a bit more time. Over the next few weeks, ALSA staff and volunteers will be entering all the donations received from the walk into the on-line system. As we tackle this process you will see your team dollars increase, just as the Central Indiana Walk "virtual thermometer" will also continue to rise and show the overall success the walk. We appreciate your patience, as this process does take some time. Once we complete this process, we will begin to send out thank you letters and tax receipts.

For the photographers among the crowd, if you have a couple good digital photos from the Indianapolis walk that you would like to share with us, please send them to walk@alsaindiana.org (jpeg format under 200K resolution preferred). We will include them with the official team photos, which we should have posted soon as a "photo album" on the walk site home page. We'll send a message to everyone once they are up, and include a brief update on Walk results.

Finally, if you have any wrap-up questions in the weeks ahead, please contact our office at walk@alsaindiana.org or by phone at 317-915-9888, or toll-free at 888-508-3232.

Congratulations to all - we couldn't have done this without you!

Lark StarkExecutive DirectorThe ALS Association of Indiana"

It has been a challenging month. I've been struggling with a lot of pain, especially in my neck and shoulders and the pain seems to exacerbate my fatigue. It doesn't help that the medications I take to ease the muscle spasms make me sleepy....

My sister and her husband were trapped in their home for 5 days due to the Rancho Bernardo (CA) "Witch" fire raging all around them. Their home and immediate area were spared, but hundreds of homes were lost within a 3 mile-radius. Thanks to everyone who joined with me in lifting them up in prayer. I have seen some video that helps explain to me why they were unable to evacuate. Imagine sitting in bumper-to-bumper, stand-still traffic with flames raging on 70-mile-an-hour winds all around you. Here is a video of what that looked like (filmed in Rancho Bernardo the morning -- 3 am -- of the evacuation).

I am so grateful that they are both OK, and that they did not loose their home.

I have Phillip here this weekend. It is growing increasingly difficult to have him here with just myself, Amy and Christopher. I have always said that the appropriate ratio is "two adults per autistic kid" and we are WAY behind the curve on that one! It is so incredibly frustrating for me to have such difficulty speaking (when the boys already have such a hard time listening!). I find the situation truly depressing. I want to enjoy the boys, but I am finding it harder and harder to even interact with them :(

Catherine is doing well at ISU and has even gotten an on-campus job. I miss her terribly, though and wish she was here at Ball State instead of in Terre Haute. I saw her over Labor Day weekend and may see her at Thanksgiving...and hopefully at Chrismas. When life is measured in months, that doesn't seem often enough.

Through it all, I am still blessed. I have a hand full of wonderful friends who have been present and supportive in tangible ways and I cannot put into words how much this means to me. Thanks Sharyll, Sheryl and Julia. Love you!

Claudia

Oh, that I could be this strong....

I just read an article that Tony Snow wrote for Christianity Today. Click HERE to read it. It is worth reading.

What a remarkable man, what a remarkable faith, and what a profound and true statement at the end: No matter where we are, no matter what we do, no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects, each and every one of us, each and every day, lies in the same safe and impregnable place—in the hollow of God's hand.

Blessings and love,

Claudia

Marty and Matilda Mantis

We've been invaded. That's right. We have a preying mantis family in our yard. Now, they haven't invaded our yard. There are just a few of the spindly things. The invasion has been in our LIFE! You see, Christopher LOVES bugs. And Aunt Julia bought him the coolest, most "awesomest" bug kit ever. The "bug bucket" has clear sides and bottom, and a MAGNIFYING lid! Oh, has heaven arrived for a 10 year old boy!?! For the past several weeks now, we have gone outside in the morning, looking for Marty or Matilda (yes, our internet queries and Cosmeo videos have taught us much....we can now tell the males from the females by counting the segments on their abdomens). When we find them, usually right where we left them the night before (OK, so they're not SMART bugs), we put the "bug bucket" in front of them and they usually walk right in. We've gotten so "into" the whole "mantis experience" that we began catching other small insects for Marty or Matilda to eat. We can even watch through the walls of the bug bucket as our interesting-looking insect friend consumes all but the wings of his dear departed fellow insect. It has been fascinating.

Want to come visit? Christopher will happily show you his "little buddy"! Love, Claudia

Seasons

What is your favorite season? Why? Do seasons have associations that bring people, events or both to your mind? Fall is officially beginning on the 21st. Summer is officially gone. The seasons mean more to me now that I have ALS. I wonder every time the seasons change what this time next year will look like. I don't know what they will hold, but I do know that I have memories from the past that stand out strongly in my mind. Memories of immense joy birdwatching in Morgan Monroe Forest in the crisp fall air . Memories of confusion, deceit, grief, pain and betrayal in the midst of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. The common denominator in these memories are relationships. One day, when we look back on our lives, we will have a "stock" of memories to sort through. My prayer for you, for your wife or husband, for your children, your parents and your other loved ones is that you are able to make a special effort to make memories worthy of the feelings you share for one another. That you would be intentional in making those people know that you love them in the midst of whatever you do. It is amazing how the sights, sounds and smells of the seasons are so unique and how those things evoke such strong memories even years or decades later. I don't remember what my paycheck was that emotionally devastating holiday season, or even what kind of car I was driving when I went bird watching in the bare-treed forest. I remember the persons involved. I remember the way I felt. Those are the lasting things.

Love someone (love them more than your stuff, more than your job, more than your social status or more than your resume', more than your SELF) this fall. You won't regret it. Love, Claudia

To My FRIENDS

I am a member of a Yahoo group for persons with ALS (pALS). Recently a pALS wrote in and was asking about "choosing when to die". You see, she is single and has virtually no family or friends supporting her and (in her words): "As time goes on, I am finding it so difficult to find any meaning in my life. I [never hear] from family and most friends. I hardly go out except to go to the store with the aide, or dr'sappointments.No one comes over anymore...."

One response she received struck me: "Most people really are good at heart--they're just so busy and distracted by "modern life" that we have to work hard to get their attention. If you die, and your family or friends read your posts here on this board later, I want very badly to believe that at least a few of them would say to themselves: If she'd only asked me, and made me see how important it was to her, I would have been there for her."

I'm not dying tomorrow, or next week and probably not even next year. I AM however facing changing needs and abilities that will continue for quite some time. This is a "marathon" not a "sprint". I'm finding that it is easy to find a friend to be with you for a "sprint" but when it comes to "marathons" most people don't have the tenacity.

I am stating, here and now that your friendship IS important to me. I NEED to hear from you. I need to see you. I don't want to die alone! Please, consider joining me for moments along this marathon. I have no choice. I have to run the race to the end. YOU can choose to support me and I need your support. I love you all. ~Claudia