Even While Battling Multiple Sclerosis, My Mom Never Lost Her Cool Factor
My parents did a really great job at hiding my mother’s multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis. It wasn’t until I turned 13 years old that I became completely aware of what she was going through. But even when I hit my angsty teen years, I always thought of her as this really cool mom.
In really basic terms, MS is a neurological disease that results in nerve damage, which can disrupt communication between the brain and the rest of the body.
My mom always had this effortless, cool factor about her. She’s always up to date with the trendiest hairstyles and always made sure her nails looked nice. I used to get excited on the rare occasions where she would pick my sister and I up from school. She would usually scoop us up after working her shift at the hospital and show up to school in her scrubs, her hair perfectly parted to the left and always with her sunglasses on or on top of her head.
She loves cars, and before MS took away her ability to drive, she always leased the nicest cars. Some of my best memories are driving around with my mom and listening to her favorite R&B or Disco songs, singing along with/to Whitney or Mary J. Blige at the top of our lungs.
I think as her health declined and the MS took away a lot of her independence, she lost a lot of her confidence. She retired from her career as a cardiac technician and became a stay-at-home mom, something she said she was excited to do but we knew it made her sad. We had to stop taking joy rides together, and she eventually had to give up driving completely.
MS definitely affected her self-esteem, but it never stopped my family, my friends or anyone else from thinking that she was the coolest mom.
She’s the mom that can still cook the best pernil and arroz con gandules in all of Long Island. She’s the mom who still carries her thick Brooklyn accent with pride. She’s the mom you want to take to concerts so you can sing songs at the top of your lungs together. She’s the mom who has opened her home to many friends who needed a place to stay, and always reassured them that they were always welcome.
No matter how MS will continue to affect her, I will always think of my mom as the coolest woman on the face of the planet. I don’t really care how corny that sounds, I just want to make sure she knows it’s true.