My brain thinks my body can move. It remembers hugging, drying my hair, and standing on a rock in Lake Tahoe. In a heartless way, it remembers scratching an itch. I recall doing life activities myself, like showering or eating, while someone else does it for me. Weird, right?

I wonder if my brain remembers because I’ll regain movement one day. I daydream about learning to walk again. I put forth extraordinary effort in physical therapy sessions that are simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating.

This dream delivers hope.

Hope springs from a stem cell treatment that is crawling through the FDA pipeline. Social media posts depict people with ALS lifting weights and running again after receiving the treatment. Other participants report their disease progression has significantly slowed or stopped. Thousands of other people with ALS will die waiting for FDA Approval. A life saving treatment exists but you can’t access it — that’s more heartless than an itch you can’t scratch.

Hope isn’t a strategy, but a fuel to keep living.

I’m Forgiven and Free, fueled by hope.