Country Road, Take Me Home, To The Place I Belong... On The Road Again

Antietam/this week

Not a single filter has been applied to any of these photos.

Country road, take me home, to the place I belong.

I did not grow up listening to country music.  In fact, my parents both did not like country music, and that is putting it politely.  I don't know why I like country music against the odds; it is something that is all mine.  

Sure, I have lived and traveled around this country and have seen sea to shining sea, but if it comes to the options of a sunny beach vacation or a mountain retreat, I'll be coming around the mountain when I come.  The vast spaces, the earth sounds of a forest, the sound of wind moving through ancient, historic, or untouched parts of the land, and the musical instruments that echo these sentiments all feel like home to me.

When I start feeling stir crazy, and/or the hustle and bustle all becomes too much for me, I find myself fleeing to vast spaces, Dolly Parton and friends blasting.  There's something about the experience of a long drive on an open road surrounded by vastness that heals me.  And Dolly certainly grew up with these same teachers of music and sound.

New Paltz, NY/October '18

Perhaps it is the type of company I keep, but I find that most of the people I know have some sort of desire to travel.  Wanderlust has been my constant companion, but sometimes I think it is more than that.  In fact, earlier this week I wasn't feeling well at work and the people who sit around me were all chatting the afternoon away, so I finished my work and left a little early and headed to the open road for some consolation.  On this drive is when I started thinking about all of this.

Stonington, CT/Thanksgiving '18

As you probably know if you follow me on social media, I am often taking small trips all around.  This winter, I've been to Connecticut, San Diego, Colorado, Arizona, and Los Angeles.  It can oftentimes feel hectic with one thing right after the other; the days are long and the months are short.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO/December '18

Inevitably, things eventually settle down, and I stay put for a few months.  Most people experience post-vacation blues, but I often think that it is something deeper with me.  A sinking depression sinks in, and I find myself having the symptoms of going stir-crazy without realizing the cause of it.  I'll get truly depressed and apathetic, and won't know why I am feeling this way.  

It happens every year, and you'd think that I'd see it coming and find a way to stop the train before it reaches the station.

Oatman, AZ/December '18

But I don't stop the train in time, and then I find myself pounding on the door of an unlocked cage.  It won't be long until I find myself driving on 70-West waiting for The Road and The Mountains and Dolly Parton to tell me where the car is headed.

North East, MD/late summer '18

It helps me to think of what a gift waking up in the morning is.  Some people never leave their house and are perfectly content; some people never leave their house because they can't.  

The things I have seen with my own eyeballs in my not-exactly-short life so far are things some people can only dream of.  Even the mundane days of driving to work (45 minutes on 695 each way), or the days working at the cat shelter or one of my many other volunteer jobs, these days are all gifts.  

San Diego, CA/November '18

Sometimes I lose focus of the grand picture, and upon realizing this, I will find myself marching to my car to find a vast space upon which to set my gaze.  

To be perfectly honest, I think my subconscious is the one grabbing the keys and marching me to the car, knowing that there is a lesson that needs to be learned and that I subconsciously know where to find it, in the absence of actual travel.

Glen Burnie, MD/this week

I spend most of my days/months/years feeling lost for some reason, and sometimes it takes wandering off to get found again.  It doesn't help the blues, but it does help me get my perspective back in place.

Let's do a road trip with this blasting, y'all:

It is Yes and Amen.

Send me funny memes please thanks.

WALK MS 2019!!!

Hello! 

It’s that time of year again to start planning Walk MS 2019!  This year's walk in Annapolis is Sunday, April 14th, so put a big circle on your calendar and block out the dates in your virtual calendars! 

Last year, I came out from hiding to share that I was diagnosed with MS and have been on treatments which are pretty hellish. CLICK HERE TO READ THAT POST. I had a very, very long time to think about the messaging around how to tell you all about my MS Journey, and I am really proud of how it all went. 

I started a team for Walk MS at the same time as I released the secret to you, and I set a VERY lofty goal for my team – to raise $1,000 for the walk.  I thought, “If 20 of my friends and family each donate $50, that is A LOT of money.”  I planned on being able to support giving out 20 gifts to friends and family who donated, considering that $50 is a LOT of money to me, and I assume it is a lot of money to you, too.  If I am giving $50 away, it is gonna be because of something important.

I couldn’t have prepared for how generous you all were. 

With the combination of the sheer generosity of my friends, family, and even my colleagues, and my company matching cash donations handed to me, do you know that we raised OVER THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS??????   

We raised $3,010, to be exact.  

I literally can’t even THINK about this without starting to cry.  It has taken me 2 days to write this note because I keep needing to walk away for a while.  I was, am, have been completely overwhelmed by the generosity shown.  You took a stand.  You didn’t participate in “slacktivism,” (Slacktivism (slactivism or slackervism, a portmanteau of slacker and activism) is a pejorative term for "feel-good" measures in support of an issue or social cause. Slacktivism is showing support for a cause with the main purpose of boosting the egos of participants in the movement. The action may have little effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfied that they have contributed.)…  you did something tangible – you worked at least part or maybe a full day’s wages just to hand that cash over to a cause that is important to ME.  My cup runeth over, and I will never, ever, ever, ever forget that first MS walk as Team Veronica’s Friends & Family.

Here are some photos from last year's walk:

Look at my beautiful team.  I do feel like some folks are missing from this photo because they came a little later.

I was the keynote speaker for the walk in 2018!  I told my story of my journey with MS, and how I came to my first Walk MS the year prior.

Thank you to Jen and her family, who made the whole schlep, and the kids didn't complain at all!

CJ & Joy!

It was an absolutely chilling 34 degrees, and after walking that far, I can never feel my legs afterwards, but my team walked with me, dragging kids and strollers, and they SHOWED UP that day... more than just physically. 

Everyone who donated $50 got a team tee shirt, and when you donate over $100, the MS Society gives you a tee shirt.  I also made a beautiful bracelet for everyone who donated, and TBH I wanted to keep every single bracelet.

Money, money, money... must be funny... in a rich man's world...

It is hard to pry my hard-earned cash out of my hands, and so I am very careful with where I toss charity money.  I love charities like The Gary Sinise Foundation (click to be directed) and organizations where you can actually SEE where your money is going.  I am not alone in this – I hear it a lot.  So… I want to tell you where the money you gave and continue to give is going.

Where your money went in 2018:

The National MS Society provides resources to those affected with the disease for education, support, and research.  What that looks like in real life, in Veronica’s actual world:

EDUCATION

There are many opportunities to attend seminars and even an annual retreat where I can go and learn what resources are available to me and anyone who is a bit more progressed in their disease than I am, such as wheelchairs and different kinds of access help, as well as ideas about what special nutrition needs I should be considering.  When I was brand new (and scared) to the disease, most of what I learned about what I am going to go through came from content/pamphlets/websites run by the National MS Society.  This experience needs to stay exactly the same and better for the next Veronicas that come through.

SUPPORT

This is the biggest one, I think.  In addition to virtual assistance, like support rooms, webinars, and hotlines, the National MS Society helps to host support groups to people all over the dang place.  I attend one support group pretty regularly – it meets the first Sunday of each month, and there is usually a guest speaker there to educate us (it is open to MS patients and family and anyone else who wants to join.)  We learn all sorts of things, from physical therapy ideas to medical marijuana details.  It’s also a good thing to just be around people with similar boo-boos so that you can point at your boo-boos to each other and everyone can nod in solidarity. 

RESEARCH

I got an email and also a USPS mailer about this upcoming seminar taking place at a hotel near me.  Click here for the details for MS Breakthroughs – learning about breakthroughs for people affected by MS, what’s in store for the year ahead and enjoy a research update from a keynote speaker.  

It’s dinner and then the program. I was really excited about this, so I went online to register myself and my mother and Sue, and I had my credit card out, all ready to pay for the registration for the three of us, and guess what…. IT IS FREE.  I stared at the screen because I thought it was a mistake.  And then, in that same moment, I thought of each of you who contributed last year.  THIS is where your money goes.  Important things like this.  I am not a rich person, but I am also not struggling terribly.  I am very fortunate.  There are many, many patients with MS who have no job and can barely cover their medication who would not be able to attend such an event if there was a cost.  This type of cost-free opportunity gives EVERYONE affected by the disease an equal chance at understanding their disease and the research around it.

So there – that is where your money went in 2018! 

TO JOIN THIS YEAR'S WALK WITH ME, please register for the Annapolis date using my page: CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY TEAM PAGE 
And when you are joining a team, find "Veronica's friends & family." 

If you cannot walk, but still just want to make a donation, my friend found this part a little confusing, so I wanted to give you this screenshot.  Go to my page, click "Donate" at the top, and the next screen will look like this, and you can tell whether you have my team info in there:

Thank you all for being a friend.