Last night, I learned that an old friend of mine was recently diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. While I’ve not yet found out his individual prognosis, research online indicates 75% of people diagnosed with ALS don’t live more than 5 years.
He’s taking it all in stride though. Back in the day when we worked together, I found him to have that very rare combination of high intelligence AND loads of common sense. He is also very devout and I’ve no doubt this is helping him deal with the situation.
I’d like to share with you something he wrote in his blog.
I view such a diagnosis of ALS as a gift from God.
Why would ALS be a gift from God? That answer is simple. Today throughout the world there are parents being told their child suffers from some deadly, painful, terminal condition. Each of those parents is looking up to God and saying, “Please Lord let it be me who is sick, please let me bear this burden; spare my son, spare my daughter.” I do not have to ask that of our God, I simply may say thank you for allowing me to be the one. God knows the pain of a Son suffering and dieing and He has saved me from that pain. That is a gift I will gladly accept a hundred times over.
So, how does this relate to emergency preparedness and disaster readiness? Well, the death or disability of a family’s primary breadwinner is surely a disaster, isn’t it? By their very nature, most disasters are not foreseen. They are unexpected and often catch us off-guard.
We prep to mitigate the effects of a disaster. The possibility of the sudden death or disability of a family member is yet one more reason to prep.
