My cousin, Sandy, died in 2009, a couple months after we visited her in Quilcene, Washington, which is near where this picture was taken. Sandy was a rock in her life and in many others she served. She earned a doctorate in education of the severely disabled and taught students with special needs all of her adult life. She did much research to know how to best help her students to learn and to understand how to address learning disabilities in education.
For many years Sandy fought ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), but stayed independent (except for nurses who helped her with some things) until the last month of her life. When we visited her, she could only move her hands, but she typed into her computer, which spoke to us for her. She was then feeding herself with a tube in her stomach, but her attitude was upbeat and matter-of-fact. I never heard her complain about the unfairness of almost reaching retirement age only to die. It is what she did in life that matters and she accomplished a lot of good for untold numbers of people who wouldn't have been able to progress and enjoy a sense of pride in learning if it hadn't been for her.
Sandy refused to be washed away by her overwhelming, debilitating disease. She never became immersed in self-pity. She hiked with poles to keep her upright and laughed when she fell. One of the craziest adventures, a couple of months before she died, was going to a rodeo in her wheelchair. She related the tedious journey with a sense of humor. Sandy traveled and hiked all over the world. I'm glad she was able to visit and see the beautiful places she enjoyed.
Never let anything stop you from doing the things you love or being the person you desire to be!
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