Kiss My ALS

An inspiring Chicago area blogger passed away last week.  Anne Marie Schlekeway suffered from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).  It took her voice and eventually her life. 

Schlekeway became an inspiration to many people when she started her blog, KissMyALS.com after being diagnosed.  She gave frank advice to others suffering and helped people put their lives into perspective.  


WTTW interviewed Schlekeway in June.  Check out the story below to see how this amazing woman lived her short life to the fullest: 

Here's an example of Schlekeway's inspirational blogging.  This is a post she wrote back in September that truly needs no introduction: 

So why is it people with ALS who are out there talking and blogging are so damn inspiring? Many of us have a similar tone, humor and directness about ourselves and our situation. We are a loving if impatient lot, with plenty of material presented by life, the loss of functions and the medical system to fuel our dialogue. I think we are the WAKE UP CALL, it seems people are waiting for something…and what’s wanted and needed is for them to wake up! And take control of their own lives.

So you can learn how to live from those of us who are learning how to die. As you hear us confront the loss of simple pleasures and functions you can more greatly appreciate yours. Do me a favor and today appreciate your necks…give thanks for your neck and it’s stregnth and flexibility. Today I’m wearing a neckbrace for the 2nd day because my head is too heavy for my neck as I sit at my computer. So be happy about your working thriving neck.

Do my a second favor and unplug from your media swirl today and sit in silence. Do some journaling. Breathe. This isn’t for me this is for you. Most people I see are not present…to anything. They are so wound up in the constant barrage of information and reacting to it they barely register an original opinion. Sit. Breathe. Think. Cry. Smile. Get present to the wondrous amongst the ordinary. Make this a daily practice. Take back your life. Listen to your own voice…ask yourself “What do I want?” And sit there regularly until you hear a clear answer.

Remember the play, Our Town? Emily says,”Do any human beings realize life while they live it? Every minute?”

Narrator: “No.”

Wake up. Pay attention. It’s your time. Savor your life and the details in it. This is really it, you know.