In my previous blogs I wrote about how precious MS Walk memories are to me.
I remember 1996 in particular. It was my second MS Walk. Up and out of the house early Sunday morning with my three girls, we headed out. The air was frosty, the weather clear. The walk was spectacular, just as it had been in 1993.
But there was a single, significant difference. As we walked, our minds and hearts were with our neighbours to the south. Oklahoma had suffered a terrific tragedy two days before. On Friday, April 19th, an office complex in downtown Oklahoma City had been bombed.
The blasted-out building was still a smouldering mess that Sunday morning. Rescuers were still searching for survivors, hoping against hope that someone would be pulled out alive.
We walked in the morning, then came home and sat glued to CNN as the afternoon unfolded in Oklahoma City.
The attack claimed 168 lives, including 19 children, and left over 800 people injured. Until the September 11, 2001 attacks involving four commercial aircraft, it was the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil.
I think I’ll remember always my little girls sitting on the couch watching the TV with remnants of the MS walk reflected in their smudged face paint and MS T-shirts, quietly trying to understand the paradoxes of life.
Since 1996, there have been many other tragedies – locally, nationally, and internationally. The events of 9/11 will be remembered and passed down through future generations. Our children’s children will talk about the events that have shaped our society and global community.
Looking back on that MS Walk, I’m reminded that for every madman who seeks to destroy, there are thousands more good men, women and children, stepping out to help ease one another’s sufferings – including rising on a cold, dark April morning to raise money to end MS.
They say good always wins in the end.
I’m looking forward to the end of MS.
Let’s walk!
