Russ is a man of courage. If you were witness to the strength and determination I am blessed to see every day you would 'see' love and fear and pain. You would see courage. Courage is a word meaning heart and is a Latin derivative Originally it meant "to speak one's mind by telling all one's heart". Over time it deviated to mean heroic. No matter the source we use, courage is heart. Russell lives with a heart of courage.
Russ has a choice in the matter. He is the one with the degenerative neurological disease. He is the one who is having to physically meet each 'small good-bye' and figure out how to do life without the abilities we all take for granted.
- writing
- rolling over in bed
- standing up from a chair
- turning around in the shower
- answering the door in a timely manner
- getting dressed
- and on and on and on....
I too, as the spouse of a person with Parkinson's must choose to feed fear or courage. I can unequivocally say Russ does the dance far better than I, but he is my daily example: face and defeat the fear. My ship seems to capsize a little more often, but Russ is my captain, saving me with his heart.
I write my way out of my fear; it is my form of communicating, sharing my soul with others, but mostly with myself. Writing shines light on our darkness and we all know light eases burdens. As. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that."