4th of July is by far my favorite holiday. Fireworks, Family, Friends and Fun. Bikinis, Boats, Beer and BBQs. No expectations, no pressure. I am so lucky to have experienced some of the most epic 4th of July’s ever! 

This 4th of July I’m sitting on my couch listening to the fireworks and reminiscing about all the wonderful ones I have been apart of. The photos above show the last 3 … ALS 4th of July’s. 

The first one was July 2015. I had officially stopped working and moved onto the boat in San Diego. We were still full of hope and having fun. (Seriously look how tan we were!) We knew what ALS was and we knew we had a timeline but we still didn’t “get it”. We had spent the day fishing and enjoying family and friends and then cruised the bay for one of the most mind blowing firework shows I have ever seen. We drank and laughed and didn’t think about what life had in store for us. Everything stood still that day. I remember thinking, “we are so lucky to have this much love around us”.

The second was July 2016. We were living in Arizona and had driven in to spend the week on the boat with friends; fishing and enjoying the holiday. Life was getting harder and more effort was needed to make things happen. But we were making it happen. We were still living and enjoying life. I remember thinking, “if this is our life for the rest of our lives, this is not a bad life”.

The last two are from July 2017. There was no pretending ALS wasn’t happening. There was no moment when I thought we will get through this. Duane slept most of the day. He was no longer eating and could no longer speak. He could squeeze my hand and “ask” me to lay with him. I put him in the hospital bed that day and he never got up again. The house was full of love and we watched the firework show on tv. I remember thinking, “this suffering has to end, this pain has to stop, it’s not right”.

– xoxo Victoria