Live life to the fullest

This is a tough Editor's Note to write. My dad, Clayton Fuller, succumbed to the ravages of ALS - more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease - in the week before we put this issue together. Those of you who are regular readers of this column know that his time with this disease was short a mere eight months from diagnosis to death but that the toll it took on him was cruel. No one who has spent 78-plus years as he did always on the move, always active, always helping others should have to end their days a prisoner in a paralyzed body, dependent on others for every action, every need. Though we knew the disease would take him soon, we were shocked at the speed at the end, as was the hospice nurse who had seen him only hours before. Needless to say, my brain is not working at peak performance right now. But I've always believed there's a lesson to be learned in everything that happens to us even tragedy and I think what I've taken away from this ordeal is a resolve to do more living. In that respect, I felt the opportunity to speak with actress Jane Seymour about her goals for the second half of life was in a way, a gift. Her quote, "At age 50 it's perfectly possible that I could live to be 100 . why not live rather than wait to die!" really struck home for me. My dad had always lived his life that way, always willing to take on new challenges and try new things. I, on the other hand, have been a bit timid in that respect. That's a part of my personality I'm going to work on changing. Though no one knows exactly what triggers Lou Gehrig's Disease in a person, I now know that this terrible scourge is in my family tree. And I've decided that, if some day I have to face what my dad did, I want no regrets, and lots of great memories of things I've done and seen and tried. That means if my son, Evan, asks me to go on one of those scary amusement park rides next summer, I'll just have to screw up my courage and do it. Same goes for things like snorkeling (I'm deathly afraid of sharks), swimming in the ocean, kayaking, and other things I've got an inkling my little adventurer (we've nicknamed him Shackleton) may dream up in the years to come. I do regret that Evan and my dad didn't have more time together six short years isn't a lot of time to get to know your Granpa. But they did climb trees together, and Dad taught him to throw a spiral and play horseshoes. Evan taught Dad to play video games. They're good memories. I hope they're enough. Debbie Gardner PRIME Editor dgardner@reminderpublications.com