Memories of my late cousin Scott, who suffered with ALS ... an ALS Walk with the "Allains Against ALS" and 10 K Crescent City Classic Run on Team (Steve) Gleason ... interspersed with St. Mary of the Pines Chatawa Mississippi stories ...
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A – great cousin who is sorely missed...
L – ou Gehrig's Disease ...
S – o great to walk and run in your memory ...
“Hey Scott (Landry), how's it going?” I had called and asked my cousin back around 2010, a few years before he had died; his pic is the first one in the montage pic attached.
Scott, with difficulty, answered, with the help of one of his caregivers holding his phone that he was doing okay.'
Flashback to late August, 2008 … the last time I saw Scott when both of our families had evacuated from Hurricane Gustav to Chatawa Mississippi to where our late Aunt, Sr. Joselia Kleinpeter, SSND had resided at their Mother House, St. Mary of the Pines.
“Wow, Scott … y'all are here, too!” I blurted out as I walked near to the St. Mary of the Pines Retreat Center residence where Scott was sitting on a chair near to the entrance.
Our pet puppy poodle, “Nellie,” one month old then, was with me, my wife and our son, JP as we had left Baton Rouge to avoid the impending strong storm.
Nellie was frisky and walked up to Scott and licked his hand as we approached Scott.
I hadn't then kept up in contact lately with Scott much over the years … as a kid, I used to spend the night sometimes at his house in the City Park area of New Orleans.
But I had become aware before Hurricane Gustav that he had been diagnosed with the debilitating disease.
When Scott went to pet Nellie, I noticed that he had some difficulty with his upper extremities, but he still managed to give a good hug to our lovable dog, whom soon confronted some rather big Lab dogs during that stay, and he learned to bark for the first time to assert her territory!
After some small talk with Scott and his family by all of us, I later, during the course of our 5 day stay at Chatawa, had the chance to get some private time with him; while I may professionally be a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, listening keenly with an open heart and ears to someone in need is what anyone can do, so I certainly tried then to practice what I like to preach.
No one can know what struggles that a person with ALS can go through, as there is still no known cure for its ravaging fatal course; I will always treasure the courage Scott showed me and others through his trials!
Besides the great fellowship and safety at St. Mary of the Pines, we had great meals and fun activities with all the families that had come to find refuge there from the storm.
I will always fondly remember us as a family and Scott having fun playing “balloon volleyball” sitting down on chairs with some elderly nuns in wheelchairs on both sides of the net and competitively whopping that balloon around!
When I subsequently attended a beautiful annual service sponsored by the local Grief Recovery Services, I certainly recalled many deceased family, clients and others when we all participated in the touching candlelight service and balloon release in their honor … and Scott was certainly on that list!
The local ALS Walk sponsored by the The ALS Association Louisiana-Mississippi Chapter was just held on November 2, 2019 at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.
I was blessed to walk with the “Allains Against ALS” Team; the late Mrs. Virginia Sue Allain's pic is the third one in the attached montage. Mrs. Virginia's Daughters, Laura Alfonso, Ann Cook, Ellen Boudreaux Bodin are with me, respectively, in the last montage pic attached.
Be sure to keep all those affected by ALS and their families and friends in your prayers.
I just registered and will be running again with “Team Gleason” for the upcoming New Orleans Crescent City Classic on Holy Saturday, April 11, 2020. I got to meet Steve Gleason at Scott's funeral and got a pic (The Second pic in the montage attached) with Steve in 2017 at a post CCC gathering at the Ugly Dog Saloon.
My Team Gleason Member link for the 2020 CCC: https://runsignup.com/manwiththeyellowhat .
Most in the Baton Rouge community are aware of the ALS struggles that Donna Britt, former WAFB Anchorperson, has openly shared about. Please help those dealing with this concern and their families in whatever practical ways that you can; thanks!
Another post script: St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa Mississippi will be permanently closing in January, 2020; thanks for the wonderful legacy they have left us … and the indelible memories I shared with Scott there ….
Keith John Paul Horcasitas, 1133 Knollhaven Drive, BRLA 70810, khorcasitas.yahoo.com, November 3, 2019.
What a wonderful tribute to your cousin Scott Landry and a good time that you had sheltered from Gustav at St. Mary of the Pines. I've read several times recently that New Orleans is a doomed city unless something drastic, like they've done in the Netherlands, happens soon. As far as ALS goes, it is a rapidly debilitating disease that needs a cure as soon as possible because the cases of this, mostly fatal, disease are on the rise. Steven Hawkins's form of ALS was different, enabling him to continue to function over many years and write the classic book, A Brief History of Time.
My caregiver, Rose, came to me shortly after she cared for Freddie Everett, a classic blues guitarist extraordinaire who lost his battle with ALS after six years. It takes a special kind of caregiver, like she is, to care for someone with ALS. After my arms and hands were paralyzed in 1963, I had to switch hands from right to left to play badminton, pool and ping-pong. I could still move well with my feet and swim, mostly with the power of my legs. But I couldn't play tennis (the shock of the hit would knock the racket out of my hand). And I couldn't play volleyball because even though the ball was light and I could serve underhand, I couldn't raise my arms to hit the ball over my head.
Ady Barken, a lawyer and political activist, found out the hard way that most insurance does not cover ALS. He has started the Be a Hero PAC to lobby for health and disability insurance for all. His interviews with the Democratic presidential candidates are wonderful to watch.
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