We talked about it today...

Life took on new meaning today in my skype conversation with Kairit. It happened when we talked about death.

Kairit told me that Silvi died at the end of March. She was 62. In the summer of 2009, the former seamstress who retired to a country home was having trouble swallowing and talking. She had lost weight. She was at Tartu University Hospital for tests in November at the same time that Kairit was undergoing an IVIG treatment. At the time it was still unclear as to whether or not Kairit had ALS.

Kairit and Silvi shared a room and the older woman helped Kairit who had lost much of the use of her hands. Silvi opened her milk and juice cartons…cut her food if necessary and so on… They became close. Silvi’s daughter phoned Kairit with the news that her mother had died.

Kairit was stunned that her new friend had died within five months of their meeting. It shocked her how fast Silvi’s ALS had claimed her life.

Our conversation turned more emotional as we talked about life and death. Silvi leaves behind two daughters and a young grandchild. Kairit has a young son, 19, and many family members and friends who pray for her every day. Her mother, my half-sister, Aino is a religious person of great faith who attends church regularly. What must she ask of God? How do we seek a miracle or do they just happen? Will the ALS researchers find a treatment or a cure in time?

Kairit does not want to die. She says, however, that she does not want to live in a vegetative state, either, when the mind sees but nothing else is alive.

We cut our conversation short today. She, to go to bed. Me, to search the internet, looking for a miracle.

I’m going to get real today. Maybe $25 Million is a stretch. Let’s just work to get as much as we can to the ALS Association as soon as possible. I’m looking for a miracle. Got one?

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