ALS sucks.

We've all been audience to ads that stream out of the realm of illness awareness, the cancer ads, spots for heart disease, and various creative ideas surrounding diseases with life crippling effects. It wasn't until my brother was diagnosed with ALS that I began to realize the true impact of life altering diseases on the individuals as well as their families.

This ad was sent to me a few years back. I was struggling with understanding why my brother, now 35 years young, and his family were faced with such a challenge. I have never been able to sit through it as it has been hard for me to remember what the past few years have brought; pain, sadness, moments of joy, struggle and growth as well as the inevitable death to come. Has it been hard to care for Matthew? Yes. But not as hard as it has been to stand aside and accept the path ALS has and will continue to plunder.

Today I watched the entire ad, and thank you to those who worked on it.

(Kleenex warning)