On the 25th of August last year, just a few hours before jumping on a plane to Sydney (without my husband), I found out that I had inherited the HD gene from Dad.
One day I will lose my mind, one day I will lose my physical and cognitive functioning, one day I will lose my memory, and one day I will no longer be me.
BUT that day is not today. It’s not tomorrow either! My story didn’t end on the 25th of August, my life didn’t finish then. It’s like when you watch a disaster movie, let’s say Titanic for example, you know what’s going to happen before you make it to the theatre. I knew Titanic was going to hit the iceberg- just like I know I am going to develop Huntington’s Disease one day (not today!). But you don’t know all the things that happen in between the opening scene and Rose “letting go”. Like my life now, I know what’s going to happen in the end, I know what’s going to kill me (unless something happens before then), but I don’t know what’s going to happen in between. I knew Frodo managed to ditch the cursed ring before I saw the book, but not about all the adventures and trials along the way.
Every time I watch Titanic there’s that little bit inside that hopes the ship is going to make the turn and miss the iceberg. Of course it doesn’t- it always hits and it always sinks. I still have hope: for a cure: for treatment: for a miracle-maybe I will miss the iceberg somehow. But in the meantime I am going to take each day as it comes, live life to the fullest, and most importantly become a better person who loves furiously and gives recklessly.