May 16, 2003, the day before my 19th birthday, the words “Sara, you have MS” rocked my entire world. Emotions were flying all over the place- denial, anger, fear, sadness, more denial, hope, a lot more denial, and a little more hope. I had no idea what my late teens and entire 20’s would bring but I knew it would take the support of my family and friends, a positive attitude, hope and lots of faith to not allow MS to have me.
As I sit here exactly 11 years later, the day before my 30th birthday, I can honestly say I struggle to find words to describe what the past 11 years have brought to my life. However, one thing I can say that has given me the drive to get up every morning, the faith to keep going, and the hope that one day there will be a cure is the insane amount of unconditional love and support my parents and my two sisters have given me no matter what crazy endeavors I have become involved in. They can tell how I am feeling just by my tone of voice, know when to listen, and know when to jump in and tell me I’m crazy. If it wasn’t for these 4 amazing human beings I would not be where I am today.
The strength, love, and sense of humor of all of the amazing friendships I have gained throughout the past 11 years have truly taught me what friendship really means. To my sorority sisters who were by my side as I got MRI’s, had scary reactions to medications, and reminded me that I have MS but MS doesn’t have me. To my BGR friends who gave me the comfort to face my MS instead of continuing to deny it and continuously taught me that I can enjoy being a college student while still making a difference in the world one person at a time. And to the many many friendships I have gained since my college days, you all have taught me what it’s like to have different kinds of friendships and to cherish every single one because we all are making a difference in the world we live in.
And then there’s my husband. Dating with MS is a whole other blog post in itself but I was one to never hide the fact I had MS. I was up front right away with every guy I even kind of liked because he deserved to know what his future may hold and I deserved to know how he just might handle it. Well let’s just say I dated a lot of different guys in my 20’s and I was ready to be done with dating altogether because I just hadn’t found the right one yet. Then because of good friends looking out for us single people, I was introduced to Andy. After a few fun low key dates, telling him I have MS, introducing him to my mom and sisters after 2 dates (this was a HUGE deal), and bringing him to meet my college guy friends after 2 months of dating I knew I had met the man who will make my life complete.
I’m not saying that the past 11 years have all been smiles and bliss. There have been plenty of trials and tribulations in the there but those are what have given me the strength to keep going and the courage to keep fighting with a Kick Butt attitude and a smile.
Today, I feel a heart full of love and shed tears of complete gratitude. Now here’s to the next 11 years of fighting hard so we can say we don’t have to fight any more.
Fit Phillips 