* Important Update *By clicking the "Donate to Caring Bridge" above or donating to the "Tribute", the money will go to Caring Bridge and not the Hodges Family Trust* *To Donate: Please go to the "Ways to Help" link to donate to Go Fund Me
Friends and Family,
As many of you know, the last year has been a very challenging and emotional year for our family. My beautiful wife, Jenn, has battled breast cancer since mid 2019, but thankfully she recently completed both her chemo and radiation and is on the road to recovery.
Amidst her treatment last fall, I was diagnosed with ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. To say the least, it has turned our world upside down. But as most people who know me understand, I relate life to sports. So when this news was given to us I thought of a few quotes on how to handle this shock. The first was “Lose hard for 30 minutes”. This means to take the news we have, grieve, and then move on to figure out how to handle it and beat it. That is what Jenn and I are doing. We want to make the best of every day and do everything we can to defy the odds of ALS.
I feel so lucky to have loving family members and friends who have supported me with a great self-care team including the best neurologist in the country, acupuncturists, physical therapists, a chiropractor, functional medicine doctors, and an outstanding trainer. These people came from our incredible community.
At this time, I am doing well. Still doing my new daily routine and hope to travel and make many more memories with my family while we can. Until then, we are enjoying being with our kids, Alex who is now 13, Zoe (10) and Wyatt (4). In spite of all the craziness of this virus in the world, it has given us the ability to spend a lot of quality time together for which I’m grateful.
The other quote that stands out in my mind says, “Weeping may endure through the night. but joy comes in the morning”. For all the sadness this terrible disease has already brought there is so much new joy that we now see on a daily basis that we would have never appreciated before.
Please know that we love each one of you and all of your support, thoughts and prayers. Please continue to keep us all in your prayers as we remain hopeful that the ALS community will find a cure for this awful disease.
