Normal tasks for normal people are challenging for me with my muscle disease. It feels like I am carrying concrete baggage in my bones. This weight is invisible, but I carry it with me- always.

I began my workout journey to try to strengthen my muscles in 2022 in an attempt to make my day-to-day life easier to manage. It was ten times harder for me to not get injured, but I kept going.

I always need to stop and rest. This becomes increasingly difficult when I am out with friends or family on a basic walk around my neighborhood. The concrete I drag behind me becomes more significant the farther I have to go.

There are days when I just need to stop and rest. My disease seems to fade into the background and gets smaller from time to time when I get to sit down. I am still connected to it and it is a part of me, but it is less distracting when I am still.

We are all just made of MEAT. Our bodies are so complicated, but sometimes I just feel like giving up on mine. I just want to be able to run errands and make it from my car inside the store- and back again. Sometimes that is very difficult.

Even though my muscle tissue can tear easily and I can get injured doing the simplest of tasks- I am stubborn. I want to do every day things and contribute to my own household. I need to learn how to ask for help from others more often.

My 1966 Mustang (Elanor) is my pride and joy. It does take a lot of extra effort to maintain her, just like my own body. The reward is to travel with her, feel the breeze in my hair and smell the beautiful scents on the wind as we ride together.

Stairs are my Nemesis. I can get contractures in my muscles that lock up and cause my body to freeze. They can last from 2 hours to an entire day. My body cannot filter the damage fast enough and my blood can be filled with toxins. Slow and steady.

I am able to counteract my disease somewhat by eating a ketogenic diet. I have a Glycogen Storage condition where glucose cannot be processed in my cells. The skeletal muscles in my body can use fat as an alternate fuel source so I can live a more normal life and not get as exhausted.

I have been an Art Educator for 20 years. I currently teach 9-12 Art at Republic High School in Republic, Missouri. My students are amazing and help me daily when I get tired. They are all so kind and always offer to help me on my bad days when I cannot reach or lift basic objects.