Enjoying the Ride: The Blog

MITCH  STURGEON
Author and Blogger 

Living With MS

3i Housing of Maine
2019 MLA STICKER FINALIST

Bahamas 2012, #2: Getting There

I think that there are at least three people living inside of us at all times. There is an anticipating self, imagining the future. There is a remembering self, recalling the past. And of course there is an experiencing self, taking pleasure in, or sometimes merely enduring, the present. Regarding our recently completed Caribbean vacation,… Continue reading Bahamas 2012, #2: Getting There

Bahamas 2012, #1: Deciding Where to Go

I recently heard something on a Ted talk, which, although obvious, I hadn’t given much thought to before. Your parents leave you too early in life. Your spouse and your own children join you later in life. It’s only your siblings who might be with you for the entire ride, if you’re so fortunate. It… Continue reading Bahamas 2012, #1: Deciding Where to Go

Handicapped Parking

Image via Wikipedia As I’ve mentioned before, my mother was a wheelchair user from the time I was six years old, so I knew about handicapped parking challenges from an early age. I made it a point to keep an eye out for people who misused these spaces. As I matured into a young adult… Continue reading Handicapped Parking

I’m on a Mission

Ever since I first ventured out in public with a wooden cane a few years ago, I’ve been on a mission. Until I became one, I hadn’t much noticed disabled people. Shortly after my diagnosis, however, I observed that the majority of disabled people who I encountered in public appeared to be miserable, and justifiably… Continue reading I’m on a Mission

My Perfect Day

Do you ever fantasize about the perfect day? I’m not talking about winning the lottery, lying on a tropical beach sipping Coronas, or watching Yankee Stadium fall into a big sinkhole. I’m talking about the kind of day where everything in your mundane little life simply goes right for once, and nothing goes wrong. Below… Continue reading My Perfect Day

Preserving My Identity

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) I’ve been asked how it is that I maintain my identity – how it is I keep MS from defining who I am. To a large extent, I don’t. Earlier in my disease progression, MS was a minor player in my life. It was an afterthought, an asterisk, a postscript. It rendered… Continue reading Preserving My Identity

My Pet Peeves

If the video does not play for you, go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1diQG2Fz474

When Spouses Become Caregivers

Keep in mind that it’s not only me. It’s Kim too. We’re both suffering from the effects of MS. Sure, I’m the one who has the disease, the one whose central nervous system is dissolving day by day. I’m the one who can’t work, who sits in a wheelchair, and who grows more dependent on… Continue reading When Spouses Become Caregivers

The Health Impact Fund – An Innovative Approach to Medicine or a Pipe Dream?

(Photo credit: epSos.de) “No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. We must learn to see the world anew.” Albert Einstein Governments, political bureaucracies that they are, simply are incapable of providing most goods and services effectively. That’s why capitalism has been relatively successful and communism hasn’t. I cringe whenever it… Continue reading The Health Impact Fund – An Innovative Approach to Medicine or a Pipe Dream?

Losses and Gains 2011

As you know, I try to strike a balance here. I don’t sugarcoat my condition, but neither do I wallow in self-pity. As such, it seems appropriate to render an honest assessment of what I’ve gained and lost in the past year, and what changes may await me in the next couple of years. Note… Continue reading Losses and Gains 2011