Six years and another tower climb!

I had been really hopeful for this blog! The reality quickly became obvious though, as vision problems, mobility issues, cognitive difficulties, basically a whole raft of MS issues made writing difficult! But Twitter was kind to me...the small messages were far easier than long blog posts! After all, with the limitations of a text message, how much could I really write?

Actually, quite a lot it would seem! Here I am, several years later, with many a tweet under my belt! Although, there is an argument to say I even let Twitter go for a while there! But that is the harsh reality of MS! You can have the greatest of intentions, but if your body is determined to stop you from doing things, sometimes you have to capitulate, take a deep breath and move forward however you are able.

So here it is, the end of summer, 2016. 2016!!! Is it really possible that the last time I blogged was SIX years ago? It feels like six months ago, not six years! But what a six years it has been! I moved from Toronto, Ontario to Hamilton, Ontario, an hour South of Toronto (and my hometown) so that I could be closer to family. That has been AMAZING! Family can be both a help and a hindrance...but I am happy to say that most of my family are a help! I have one brother determined to make my life more difficult, but another one who has been my saviour on many an occasion! He is not a Saint, but he IS my hero! Some things have been a surprise, like some family members spending less time with me now that I live here, but then others make up for that by spending more time!

My Fiancé and I are no closer to living together, sadly! But despite the challenges of living so far apart (he is in England!), our relationship is incredibly strong and we are very much in love! Life finds many ways to test us, but through it all, we only discover our inner strength!

I am gearing up for my annual tower climb! This year my hero-brother, John, will be assisting me! If you follow me on Twitter, you are likely aware that every year since my diagnosis in 2007, I have climbed the Dorset, Ontario lookout tower. It has been a fairly regular fall event in my life, but an absolute must since my diagnosis! This is my "f@€k you MS" activity! I realize there may become a day when all I can do is go to the park that houses the tower and there may even become a day where travelling there is no longer even possible. But for as long as I am able to, I will go to the tower and make my best effort to climb it! I have been successful every year that I had an assistant in making it to the top! One year, I had to go on my own, so I had to err on the side of caution and only managed to climb the lower portion, but I needed to ensure I had the energy to get myself home again!

I am excited to attempt this climb again! It's always difficult, but it is incredibly rewarding!

This summer has been difficult. There was more heat waves than I have ever seen before and a horrible drought, but it appears the weather is returning to more seasonal normal temperatures and we've finally had some rain, so my fingers are crossed that this was a temporary blip and not a "new normal".

Anyway, enough rambling! I have a tower climb to plan for next week!

Stay safe and don't give up!