It has been a constant struggle, yet, I perservere. When all gets my down I think of all i have to be grateful for. Yesterday, we went to a work xmas dinner. As I stood outside for a bit, a gentleman came walking by. I could see as he was walking that he was talking away. As he got closer, he immediately appologized to me. "sorry maam, I don't want you to think I am being rude". As I listened attentively, the man would sporatically speak loudly of words I could not understand. He went on to tell me that he has Turretts syndrome. He continued to appologize to me. I said to him " It's O.K. , you don't have to appologize to me. He asked if i new anything about Turretts. I told him I was a nurse. He had such a sad plea in his voice ,amidst the involuntary blurting out. "Maam, do you know if there is some cure somewhere? Do you know of anything that can help me?". My heart ached for this man. He spoke of meds that one would give him powerful jerking movements and another that would make him like a "zombie" . He spoke of the church nearby he pointed to and related to me that he is no longer able to attend they tell him, due to his outbursts. He thanked me for listening without judgement. We shared a goodbye. I could not get this man out of my mind . And I thought of my pain and remembered one last thing the man had said. "I wish I had cancer. At least then there would be meds to treat me and I would be able to sleep at night ". Wow. It surely made me take a good look at myself. I have this pain always, and yes I have all these loses, but I have meds to make the pain tolerable. To be rejected by his church. WoW !!! What message has he been given. On our 45 min. drive home not a second passed that he wasnt on my mind. I hurt so bad for him. He says he walks that street all the time , back and forth. I am going to try and seek him out and see if there is some place I can direct him to , if even just to talk. He was so very thankful for the few minutes we shared. I just wanted to share this because sometimes I know i get so caught up in my own "stuff" , I neglect to look around me. Thankx for listening........Dawn
