This morning I found out that a woman named Sarah Kalail had passed away from ALS. I didn’t know Sarah well. I don’t know how old she was or when she was diagnosed, but I do know she had grandchildren. Sarah and I were both on the President’s Advisory Board for The ALS Association. Her contributions to our calls came in the form of a computer-generated voice, which she used to talk about concerns for her family, the finances of those suffering from ALS, and the patient care piece of the disease. Sarah was outspoken, despite her inability to speak.

There are so many people who knew Sarah better than I did, and they will do the job of remembering her and sharing stories, so that the rest of us can learn more about her life. I just feel sad. Sad that someone who was once healthy and alive isn’t that way anymore.

I’ve been scrolling through Sarah’s Facebook page this morning, reading the posts of the people who miss her. I read some of Sarah’s own posts, including one about traveling—something I wrote about so recently. Sarah once loved to travel, to explore new cities with her husband and their sons. By 2013, she could no longer travel by plane, and even driving for long periods of time was difficult. But, she wrote “I find great solace in my memories.” Read More>