Adapting With the Hope That a Tradition Can Be Toppled
“Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today, Look at me, I can be center field.” John Fogerty’s homage to an aspiring baseball player is reminiscent of my pre-ALS…
Notes From the ALS Front
— Rick Jobus
Rick is a 62-year-old man who was diagnosed with ALS in January 2007. Currently a resident of Southwest Florida, he has lived in four other metropolitan areas, but greater Chicagoland will always be “home.” Rick is a degreed engineer, spending his career in the medical device industry. He’s had the good fortune of extensive travel throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. He writes, in part, to be an ALS advocate. Additionally, it is his hope that his output will help dispel the myth that technical folk and digestible prose aren’t mutually exclusive.
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In Memoriam: Rick Jobus, Feb. 6, 1958-June 19, 2022
Courtesy of Rick Jobus It is with deep sadness that we inform the ALS News Today community of the passing of our friend and treasured columnist, Rick Jobus, on June 19, 2022. Rick published the first installment of…
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Enjoying the Vagaries of Life’s Carnival Ride
“Run away, run away/ It’s the restless age/ Look away, look away/ You can turn the page/ … Take away, take away/ This house of mirrors/ Give away, give away/ All…
We Are Family: The Case For Reciprocating Care
“Your lifelong membership is free, Keep a-giving each brother all you can. Oh, aren’t you proud to be in that fraternity, The great big brotherhood of man?” Those lines,…
A Problem Warranting Animated Attention
“The world is covered by our trails / Scars we cover up with paint / Watch them preach in sour lies / I would rather see this world through the eyes…
Life Amid a Torrent of Fire and Rain
“Won’t you look down upon me, Jesus?/ You gotta help me make a stand./ You just got to see me through another day./ My body is achin’ and my time is…
What’s Next After Your Ship Comes In?
“What do we do now?” That line from the 1972 movie “The Candidate” came to mind recently. The movie stars Robert Redford as a political…
Applause Springs Forth From a Crash Landing
No one applauds when the train is on time. That was the metaphor I invoked during the portion of my career spent in system implementation and post go-live support organizations within the…
A Surprise Course in Life Support 101
“Love the One You’re With.” In his 1970 release, Stephen Stills advised folks to show carnal affection for whomever fate paired them with. If the prurient intent is replaced with…
Finding Sweetness in the Eye of the Storm
Just like Lionel Barrymore as James Temple in “Key Largo“ and Gary Sinise as Lt. Dan Taylor in “Forrest Gump,” I survived a hurricane wheelchair-bound. Unlike the…
Learning to Cherish a Room With a View
Last week, I ended this column with a tongue-in-cheek inference that in deference to an improbable ALS curse befalling me, I would not share two near-disaster experiences anytime soon. This week, I am reneging…
Is It a Jinx or a Sphinx?
“You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, You don’t spit into the wind, You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, And you don’t mess around…
Navigating an Uncertain (Lega) Sea
“The world will little note, nor long remember …” These words of Abraham Lincoln were his prediction that the speech containing them would have no permanence. Ironically, the Gettysburg Address…
