ALS...

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I have been in a bit of a funk the last few days. A couple of my siblings are not getting along, and I am dismayed that things I hold dear, like community service and the rule of law, as in "reading them their rights" are being maligned by the pitbull with lipstick, who is giving both pitbulls and Revlon a bad name.

Today we had a speaker at Rotary telling us about A.L.S., or Lou Gehrig's Disease as it is most commonly known.

There is no cure, there is not even any clear cause, although serving in the U.S. Military makes you 60% more likely to get it- a truly bizarre statistic.

It's a disease of the membrane that allows the muscles to function. It's a disease of elimination, symptom by symptom, where they rule everything else out before they come to the conclusion that you have A.L.S. Most people die from the disease in 3-5 years.

The worst part is your brain is 100% functional until the very end. That brought a level of grief to me that I have rarely felt- such tragedy, such outrage, such pain, such suffering.

The other "worst" part of it is that Major League Baseball does nothing to benefit ALS research- zip, zilch, nada. A disease that struck down one of their greatest players, one of their statesmen- and zero.

I intend to do something about that- I hope.