Peggy’s Story

Here is an excerpt from her self-written eulogy:

I chose life, and all of you beautiful people out there helped me with my journey.  Being a servant of God is being a servant of love. I want to express my forever gratefulness for my faith, family and friends.  It was my ultimate goal when I found out I had ALS to keep my life, and that of my family, as normal as possible.  You were my arms, my voice, my everything.  I know some of the tasks were not always pretty, but no one ever complained.  You changed my life positively in ways you will never know.  My children and husband led normal lives because of everything our community did for us, and shared with us.

My unconditional love for all my friends, those I knew forever, and those I got to know through ALS, will always hold a very special place in my heart.  I want each one of you to know that I heard often from you how I was such an inspiration. That is not how I see it.  God taught me how to sit quietly and receive, with grace, the gifts you showered upon me and my family each day.  You were my inspiration and a big part of what made my life, even with ALS, normal.

ALS was no doubt a part of her, but it did not define her. As her condition evolved so did she. She leaned on her foundation of faith and love which allowed her to champion her outward attitude. Her mantra of “choose life” was quite simple and yet profound. It was her “choice” to exude compassion, patience, authenticity, unwavering faith and love.  Her commitment to live up to those choices in the face of great adversity with such grace will not soon be forgotten.

In knowing her, our family came away with the understanding that “choose life” is a mentality and more importantly, a lifestyle, which we believe she lived her whole life.

Even in her passing, her presence, her lessons, and her “choices” are all around us. Her booming Weber laugh and radiant smile serve as both a reminder and inspiration, that your life will be what you choose to make of it. We can only hope she understood how influential she could be on all of us. She often spoke of her “angels” and all those who helped her through her journey but upon reflection we all know we needed her just as much as she needed us.

It is in her honor we press forward in search of cure to save the Next Generation of our family.