The MS Factor

I’m a social worker and horrible with names. Whenever I arrive to conduct assessments I have to glance at the information on my paper before the door opens. However, I’m great with remembering faces and places.

It was a Friday when I pulled up to my final assessment of the afternoon and knew I’d been to the care home before. I spoke earlier with the caregiver to set the meeting, but her voice and name didn’t stand out. Because I meet roughly thirty people a month, plus caregivers for each customer, names blend together rather quickly.

I knocked on the front door. I’m a horrible knocker. I could never work for the police or anything of power with my weak little knocks. My knocking sounds like a woodpecker about to die. You’d be surprised how many doorbells don’t work. 

The door swung open and I introduced myself as she moved aside and allowed me to step into the care home. Once my eyes adjusted from the sunshine, I saw her smile. 

“I’ve been here before,” I said, as a familiar dog came to greet me. 

“Yes, honey. I remember you.” She took my hand. 

The customer I’d seen here a year ago has multiple sclerosis.

“Your Mama had MS,” the caregiver stated. “I’ll never forget you.” 

The people who have multiple sclerosis hold a place in my heart. I watched as the diagnosis slowly robbed my own mom of her life. I watched her hang on for many years after she was nothing but a body for caregivers to wait on when they saw fit. I watched MS take away her speech and vision. I watched it take away her ability to swallow food and have a feeding tube added. This is why I decided to write my sweet romance novel, Grounded in January. So, you’re thinking, who would want to read that? Let me explain.

I desperately wanted to give a voice to the disease in a different way. As a writer, the abbreviation for manuscript is ms. In the medical world, MS stands for multiple sclerosis. Maybe there is a similar way to connect my story too. I returned to my outline for Grounded in January and pondered. How can I bring awareness to a disease that’s not like every other book that focuses on a disease? How can I create beauty in a disease that is not beautiful? Then the very idea engulfed me. Multiple sclerosis is often referred to by doctors as the snowflake disease because the symptoms of MS are different from person to person. I decided to set the story in the very environment that the diagnosis mimics, a place with snowflakes.

I wanted to bring light and hope to the diagnosis (because my mom and I both could have used it back in the day). I wanted people to understand it, but not in a depressing fashion. People want a voice, they need their story to be heard, but often a diagnosed voice can be overwhelming in a world which sees enough sadness every day.  

Back to my meeting on that one Friday; as I drove away, my mom’s memory sat perched at the center of my thoughts. The Rolodex of MS people I’ve assessed flipped between my mind. I didn’t cry. Sometimes, I do.

I’ve grown stronger through writing Grounded in January.  There is a vastly different knowledge level of the diagnosis today than there was in the 1980’s when my mom was diagnosed. Now, there is new awareness and support thanks to actress Selma Blair discussing her MS diagnosis. I wish these discoveries and support were available to my mom at the time, but we are not able to go back, we can only go forward.

I saw Grounded in January as an opportunity. Yet, I didn’t want to create a story based on my mom, I wanted to give her new light, in a different way. A story about inspiration and hope. A reminder to not give up, to not to see yourself as alone, but as a snowflake of beauty amongst other beautiful snowflakes.

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Savannah Hendricks is also the author of Nonnie and I, a picture book about first day of school anxieties, set in Botswana. Her stories have been included in over 20 children’s magazines, and is the co-author of Child Genius 101: The Ultimate Guide to Early Childhood Development: Vol 1 & 2. Visit her at https://theseashellsoflife.wordpress.com/

Grounded in January –

Kate Wilson hates to admit it, but she’s unhappy and can’t figure out why. Fearful of flying yet determined to find a reason for her unhappiness, she boards a flight headed for her Washington hometown.

Inn of the Woods owner and pilot, Oxnard Swanson struggles with accepting his multiple sclerosis diagnosis, realizing his dreams of marriage and a family might be over. Determined, he bides his time managing the inn, piloting his Cessna, and training his rescue dog, Bayou.

Sparks quickly fly between Oxnard and Kate, when a snow storm forces her to find refuge in the Inn of the Woods. Maggie, a wise guest, suggests the couple step outside, where the magic of the snow offers answers to their search for happiness and a second chance at love.

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing