I want everyone to imagine themselves in 15 years, and picture this scenario playing out. Imagine being in a wheelchair and never being able to play ball with your kids, imagine your child fell upstairs and you can't get to them because you can't walk upstairs. Picture never being able to run or bike, and the regret that you didn't do it when you could. Picture the possibility of not being able to stand on your wedding day, and never having the chance to ski or snowboard, or do anything that requires a lot of effort in your legs. Imagine every time you bend to talk to a child, you need that child's help to get up. Imagine going through life having your activities taken away from you one at a time, slowly but surely and realizing that you will never have those opportunities again. Picture your independence slowly slipping away, and the crushing defeat you feel everytime you realize that you can't do something anymore, that you once could. Now the next time you see me walk off the elevator, or cling desperately to someone in order to stand up, I want you to remember that. Laugh if you will, but this is not me being dramatic, this is a disease that I have been fighting for 9 years now, and this is me losing. This is the shame that I worked so hard to disguise becoming too powerful, and my pride being squandered away. Picture my heart ripping in two as I realize that there will be a day when I look back on these shameful actions as opportunities that I wish I did more often. Then go ahead and laugh.