Rob and I watched the movie Gleason last week. He was out of town when I attended the San Francisco screening, so this was his first time seeing it. Now that it’s on iTunes and Amazon, I highly recommend that everyone check it out if you haven’t seen it already.
Seeing the movie for the second time was eye-opening for me in new ways. The first time I watched it, I was very focused on the relationship between Steve Gleason and his wife Michel as they navigated ALS. It seemed like they came to the disease from such a place of strength and connection, yet it was and is an incredible challenge to maintain a relationship. Rob and I know all about that, and judging by the conversations I have with other ALS patients, we are not the only ones. So this time, I set the relationship stuff aside, and I just watched Steve.
I watched him as a strong professional football player, muscled and aggressive and fast. I watched him as a groom, and as a traveler. I watched as he fell while attempting to run across the rug of a church. Read More>