Friends,

Culvers Fund Raising Event – Thank you!

It warmed my heart to see so many of us gathering together at Culver’s last Wednesday.

When we pulled in, there were very few parking spots left.  It wasn’t too much longer and people were getting dropped of at the door while their loved one parked the car in another parking lot because the Culver’s parking lot was full. 😊

A huge THANK YOU goes out all who supported us.  Thank You!  I hope you enjoyed your evening as well.

Thank you Terry Frett for getting this organized for us and making it possible to get together like we did.  It was fun!

We gotta love the love that’s shared around here!

Last week Wendy shared a picture of her when she was a young one.  Ah yes, the good ole days.  We’re still creating and celebrating the good ole days with Wendy today.  Right, Wendy, Bob and Andy?

We have another MS-Just Keep Moving family member turning 80 – Happy Birthday Tom!
As many of us know, Tom Holtackers has had a rough couple years as he had some pressure sores that didn’t want to heal.  He pretty much had to stay in bed for the last year and a half or so.  He went to Mayo Clinic and had surgery to get the pressure sores to heal and now he’s back to exercising.

Tom is turning 80 tomorrow.  Let’s celebrate by wishing him a happy birthday.  You can e-mail Tom @ mssux@mac.com

Here’s a message from Tom:
Exercise has been a major part of my life. I consider it as an investment into the future function of my body.  During my early days, exercise was designed to improve my athletic performance. Since I started my journey with primary progressive MS over 50 years ago, exercise is designed to keep whatever function I have that is not lost from the disease. Since then, MS and aging has eroded most of my physical function and I rely on my exercise regimen to maintain whatever I have not lost! 

 However, for the past year and a half, I have been restricted to bed because of a wound further diminishing my function due to inactivity. Up until a month ago I was in a hospital for two and half months following three surgeries to “fix” the wound and unable to exercise. Since my hospital discharge, I have been able to start exercising again and I plan to recoup what I lost from inactivity. Furthermore, I have set a goal for the “Day of Endurance” of 20 miles on an UBE.
What is your goal???  -Tom-

Again…Happy Birthday Tom!!

 Run Forrest Rhonda Run!
Many of us remember about three years ago when Rhonda hit a milestone of running 2-3 miles for 365 consecutive days.  Let’s fast forward to today.  Rhonda is on about day 1423 consecutive days (almost 4 years) of running 2-3 miles per day while living with MS.

If you ask Rhonda why she’s doing this, she’ll be the first to tell you she’s doing this to stay ahead of her MS and that she’s running for all of us living with who can no longer run.  She says she thinks about everyone who can’t run on every run.

Thanks for being such an inspiration Rhonda!  Run RHONDA Run!  You’re showing MS and Forrest Gump how it’s done.  Rhonda is hoping to volunteer for the indoor triathlon at Westwood coming right up.  Hopefully, we’ll get to see more of her then.

Our MS Resource / Self Help Center is available for you
If you want to read about MS or about any self help information we have, feel free to check it out…in more than one way.  You can check it out to see what we have and you can also check it out to take it home, read it and bring it back.

Check it out! 😊

No Regrets opportunity for the men of our MS Just Keep Moving Family
Please join us on Saturday, February 4, 2023 as we “Livestream” (on the BIG TV) the No Regrets Men’s Conference.  The event starts at 8:00 AM and ends at 1:00 PM.

The event will feature group worship, compelling messages from leading pastors and teachers, testimonies of how other men have done it and seminars on the topics of most interest to you. Take advantage of this day to avoid the distractions of life and enhance our relationship with Jesus Christ, the solid rock on which we stand.

Here is a link to the event – No Regrets Men’s Conference – No Regrets Men’s Conference (noregretsconference.org)
There is no cost to attend the event, but if you would like lunch, we’ll each be pitching in $10.00.  Please let Cal or Larry know if you plan to attend.

COVID
We didn’t have any new people test positive for COVID again this past week.  Yeah…4 weeks in a row!  Let’s hope it stays that way.

To all who have reported their positive testing to me…thank you for letting me know and for being socially responsible and staying away until your symptoms are all cleared up.  If you do come down with it, it’s important we let people know that you have been in close contact with so they can watch for symptoms and help stop the spread.

We’ve all been dealing with COVID long enough and are very well educated on it by now.  I’m not telling you what to do but I’d highly encourage you to wear a mask again if you haven’t had it recently.  Let’s make good choices and be safe.

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!

Let’s get together!
We’ll be getting together again from 9:00am – noon on Wednesday and Friday mornings at the gym.  I hope you’ll join us!  If we don’t have enough volunteers, please help each other.

Wisconsin Metal Parts – Westmound Building
MS-Just Keep Moving, Inc.
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186

Prayer Group  We’ll be having our prayer group Wednesday @ 11:00am.
I just love the way we share, pray and laugh together while we witness prayers being answered weekly.  It’s truly amazing!

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.

MS Just Keep Caring – Our Caregivers support group will be the first and third Friday of each month from 10:00 – 10:30am.  The next one will be Friday, February 3rd.  If you’re a caregiver of someone you love with MS, please join us and share your experience of caring for your loved one.  This has been very helpful for many.  Thanks to all who participate!

Friday Morning Bike Rides
Let’s ride indoors all winter so we can pick up where we left off next spring.  The bikes are all set up at the gym.

Our Facebook page is private.  That means you’ll need to join if you want access to all our fun and progress.  We’re now up to 339 members…awesome!   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2639832389489709

Our Facebook page is very active and fun.  Lots of people are doing more and sharing some of their journey on Facebook.  Feel free to join, post and share your experience and comments.  Thank you to all who are sharing!

There were some awesome pictures, videos and comments shared again this past week.

Thai Massage with Ricky Heldt
Ricky will be here Wednesday and Friday again this week doing Thai Massage.  Ricky says he is comfortable to work with you even if you’re not wearing a mask.  Ricky will continue to wear one to protect you.

Many continue making great progress with chronic pain relief, range of motion, walking better and a new sense of hope when Ricky works with them.  Please keep in mind that consistency is key.  Not only with Ricky…with exercise too.  We need consistencyto 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 Thai Massages each day and sign up for your time slot as soon as you get there.

Reiki with Linda  Linda will be here on Fridays doing Reiki.  Many people say Linda’s Reiki work is “magical”.  We’re thankful for Linda offering her gifts and talents to us.  Feel free to let Linda know you’d like to do Reiki with her.  She also has a sign up sheet.

Inspirational Humor with Adam Wollert
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.
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

Let’s reach out
I encourage you to share a smile and encouragement with someone.  Perhaps you could call someone that you have not talked with for a while just to say hi and see how they are doing.  We all could use a little extra love and encouragement.

MS is tough.  Let us have faith, remain calm, be flexible, help each other and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day as we make good choices.

Let’s keep moving and smiling 😊

In God We Trust…we are in good hands

Dan

http://msjustkeepmoving.org/

P.S.  Sometimes, I just go for a walk with my camera to see what looks interesting.  Last weekend, I came across this frosty plant.  I don’t know what you think, but I thought it was interesting.

This time of the year may not be the most colorful or photogenic.  It’s still fun to find some beauty in a simple rolling field.

Or a tree with the sun coming up behind it on a mostly cloudy day.

This doesn’t happen very often but we even walked up on a pair of bald eagles by their nest.

For those of you who can’t get out and enjoy nature due your challenges with MS…my heart is with you.  You are with me every time I’m out there.  I enjoy being out there and I also enjoy sharing with you.  I know how hard it is not to be able to get out and enjoy nature.