A message from a past Framily

There are still many of us who remember Sarah Hale.  We received the following email letter from her yesterday and thought you would enjoy hearing from her.  She can receive emails but as she mentions in the letter that it is difficult for her to reply, but enjoys hearing from the Framily.  We have her permission to put the letter on the Forum.

Dear Friends,

This wasn?t intended to be a holiday letter, but I haven?t gotten around to writing it sooner.  The list of people I owe letters to is getting so long, I decided to answer all of you at once.  Some people have been on my ?owe letter? list for a couple years, so I hope you haven?t taken it personally.  Some of this will be old news to some of you.

First of all, I moved a couple years ago, then recently moved to another apartment in the same building.  My address is now 3663 Park Center Blvd, Apt 104, St Louis Park, Mn 55416-2517.  My phone and e-mails are the same as they were before, listed below.

What was originally diagnosed as ataxia either was re-diagnosed or developed into MSA (Multiple System Atrophy).  I was hoping that if I had ataxia, it would be a slow-developing type.  No such luck, since MSA is one of the fastest moving types, and has an average life expectancy of 7-10 years from symptom onset.  Of course, I don?t know exactly when they started, since I chalked up initial symptoms to my job.  Besides, that?s just an average, and no one has ever accused me of being average!  MSA is degenerative so it is like hitting a moving target. Things I can do this month I may not be able to do next month so I am constantly adapting the way I do everything.  I am now in a wheelchair all the time and I have someone come in four times weekly to help me with things that are hard to do.  It?s nice to have a good excuse for not doing chores I never liked anyway, like laundry, cooking, housework. I think my next step will be 24-7 care but I am putting that off as long as I can. When I was first diagnosed I decided to do as much as I could for as long as I could.  So far it is working and I keep busy. I knew that I would eventually be unable to travel so I got my traveling accomplished early. It helps to have wonderful siblings located all over the world in interesting places, because I was able to visit all of them. Last year I took a couple of my brothers to Alaska and I am planning to go to Texas in March. I have also been camping with Wilderness Inquiry, a group that includes disabled people. I have some good friends in my building and in the area that take me places, so between them and the activities here (we have our own bus), I?ve been able to keep doing a lot of the things I like.  Ataxia only affects part of the brain, so I don?t have to live with chronic pain, like some people in my building, nor do I get addle-brained like them.  I get tired a lot, and don?t talk well, especially on the phone.  I feel fine, and people say I look fine, so life is pretty good.

My fingers don?t always type very well (someone else is typing most of this) and typing takes a major effort.  When left to my own devices, I use one slow, shaky finger (which requires looking) with a lot of mistakes.  Therefore,  I rarely send e-mails, but I still enjoy reading them, and reading about your travels and activities.

I hope life is treating is each of you well and I wish you the best of holiday seasons.

As for me, I am taking one day at a time and doing as much as I can and am very thankful for the support and love of my family and friends.
[email protected]

Lorna,

We received the same email. It is so sad to see what is happening to Sarah. We have many fond memories of her at various rallies and visiting in Minneapolis. She is one wonderful person and we miss not seeing her.

We still have our "Sarah Bear" in the coach which she gave to several forum members. I think it was for one of our QZ rallies. She is a treasure that I only wish all could experience. I still remember being shocked by "Elliot" upon entering her coach, even though I knew he was there. ;D

Sorry to hear Sarah is not doing well. We met her only once near Duluth, MN, but had an enjoyable afternoon.

We too are sorry to hear about Sarah's condition. We met her and Elliott at our first Quartzsite rally. We had an airlock in our water pump and Sarah worked on it. We also still retell her story of working at Camping World in Henderson, NV and her customer who complained about his toad's turn signals blinking in the wrong direction. Sarah went to the back of the car and swapped the left and right magnetic lights on his roof and problem fixed.

Beautiful Sarah!  Mostly I remember her smile and the twinkle always in her eyes.  When I was going through chemo and lost my hair, she sent me little cotton hats that I wore constantly.  She also sent matching scarfs for Dusty, our lab.

She replaced our water heater on a trip to Minnesota for a very minimal fee which included Famous Dave's BBQ and a big pizza.  ;D

Margi

We remember Sarah at QZ and a wonderful visit in Minneapolis when we introduced her to the Macaroni Grill.  Great lady, fun to be with and maybe even a distant cousin.  We have never figured out the exact relationship but it is probably there due to the name, Hale.  Lots of them in my mother's family tree, just can't find the right one.

Thanks for the letter Lorna.  We always enjoyed Sarah at QZ and in MN.  Great gal and lots of fun.  Hope she enjoys her outings with her group.

We remember her indomitable spirit at dinner in MPS with you and the Johnson's.

Hi Lorna,

So sorry to hear of Sarah's trouble. Even though it has been years since we have seen her & Elliot, we still remember her fondly and wish her well as can be.

Jerry & Arlyne