Friends,

I hope you enjoyed your Christmas with your family and friends.  Ours was very nice this year.  I’m grateful.

So, we can do anything with a little help from our friends, right?  Laura, you have lots of friends willing to help you ride the hand cycle.  By the looks on their faces, they probably have some really good advice for you.

It’s good to see you’re thinking spring already and getting ready to get outside and ride.  The days are now getting longer 😊  Let’s get ready!

With the COVID numbers going up so rapidly locally again, I’m going to highly encourage each of us to be socially responsible and help us all be safe.  I’m not telling you what to do but I’m asking you and highly encouraging you to wear a mask when you’re in close proximity to someone else whether you’ve been vaccinated or not.  We want to remain open and we need to do it safely.

Please stay home if you have any symptoms or know you’ve been exposed to someone with the virus.  Please don’t come until your symptoms go away.  Let’s also give each other some space when talking to one another and continue wiping the machines down before and after you use them with disinfectant.  Again…let’s be socially responsible and stay safe!

We’ll be getting together again from 9:00am – noon on Wednesday and Friday mornings at the gym.  I hope you’ll join us!

Wisconsin Metal Parts – Westmound Building
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186

We have a brand new year right around the corner.  In 2022, let’s do something new.  What will “new” be for you?  I guess that boils down to the choices we make.

Have you heard about the choice Todd made?  He chose to sign up for a half Ironman distance triathlon in Oconomowoc on July 30th.  That’s a 1.4 mile swim followed by a 56 mile bike ride followed by a 13.1 mile run.  Many of you are probably thinking…how’s he going to do that?  Let’s watch and see.  We’ll need to train with him.  Let’s mark the date on our calendars and go cheer him on.

I’d love to hear what “new” will be for you in 2022 and how we can help you achieve it.  Please share!

We will be having some “new” programs here at our MS-Just Keep Moving gym in 2022 as well.  One of the things we will be starting is a sharing session for loved ones and care givers.  We’re going to call this our “MS-Just Keep Caring” program.  This will start about the 3rd week in January.  Stay tuned, more information to come.

Another program we’re hoping to start is a glass fusing program.  This will be something pretty different.  You’ll have an opportunity to make some unique pieces.  Again, stay tuned, more information is coming.

If you have an idea of a program that you feel would be beneficial to us living with MS, please let me know.  If we get enough leadership, volunteers and people interested, we’ll certainly consider it.

I wish all of you a HAPPY New Year and I hope you too do something new in 2022.  Does that rhyme?  Close enough for me 😊  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Have you visited our Facebook page this past week?  We’re sharing lots of Christmas Spirit!   We’re now up to 154 members.  Again, that’s another 5 more than last week.  Our community continues to grow 😊.  Have you joined yet?  There are some fun pictures and comments out there.  I’m not a Facebook person so contact Shelley if you have any questions.  Here’s Shelley’s message about our Facebook Page.

We have a new Facebook page!  Follow this link to check it out https://www.facebook.com/groups/2639832389489709 or you can search MS Just Keep Moving on Facebook.  All are welcome to post and comment.  Let’s keep things positive, upbeat and use this as another tool to stay connected and up to date. The page will be updated weekly with comments, pictures and updates.  Feel free to tag the group with posts from your own page as well. 

Ricky Heldt will be here again on Wednesday and Friday this week doing Tai Massage.  If you have Ricky work on you this week, please wear a mask.  We don’t want Ricky to pick the virus up from one person and spread it to others.

Many of you continue making great progress with chronic pain relief, range of motion, walking better and a new sense of hope when Ricky does his magic to you.  Please keep in mind that consistency is key.  Not only with Ricky…with exercise too.  We need consistency to realize the benefits long term.  We want you to have long term relief.

Ricky has a sign up sheet based on first come first serve.  You can pick the time slot that works for you.  I highly encourage you to take advantage of Ricky’s Tai Massages each day and sign up for your time slot as soon as you get there.

We’ll be having our prayer group in person again this Wednesday @ 11:00am.  I just love the way we share, pray together and witness prayers being answered weekly.  Thanks goes to God and to everyone that joins us.  Let’s get together to share, listen, talk, give thanks and pray however God leads us.

We’ll be having our inspirational humor zoom call with Adam again next Tuesday.  Adam is a gift to all of us.  Please join us if you can.

Inspirational Humor with Adam Wollert
Tuesdays @ 1:30PM
Here’s the link to join us…I hope you do!
Join Zoom Meeting with this link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9431389152?pwd=bWlYbFNaazVnM1M1cWxWMitlODdXUT09

Meeting ID: 943 138 9152
Passcode: 3qP2hu
Phone:   1-312-626-6799
Meeting ID: 943 138 9152

I encourage you to share a smile with someone.  Perhaps you could call someone that you haven’t talked with for a while just to say hi and see how they’re doing.  We all could use a little extra love and encouragement during these times.

MS is tough.  Let’s stay calm, focused, healthy, flexible, have faith and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day as we make good choices.  Better days are ahead.

In God We Trust…Happy New Year!
Dan

http://msjustkeepmoving.org/

P.S.  This week I was taking some pictures of some birds.  I happened to catch a blue jay with some cardinals in the background.  It looks like they’re all marching in harmony into the new year.  Let’s be like the birds 😊  Happy New Year!