Yesterday, an old TNT teammate emailed me with a link to his fundraising page for the Alliance for Lupus Research. Turns out he’s participating in the Walk with Us to Cure Lupus Walkathon on Saturday. Lupus is a cause that is close to me, because my mom, SK, has the disease. Clearly, I’ve already donated. I also wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to my mom, who I learned just this evening was a runner when she was a couple of years older than I am now (cool). In addition to what you’ll learn about SK below, she is a wonderful cook and baker (her apple crumb pie has no peer), a quilter with a good eye for color and design (this is her family reunion quilt, on the right), an excellent shopping companion and has an uncanny ability to call me at the office when I’m at my busiest. Herewith, our interview from last night, via telephone.
TK: Did you ever play sports or run?
SK: Yes, I ran. I used to run 5 days a week, 2 miles. I did that from when I was about 37 until I was about 40. I was in college. I’d run through our neighborhood on the streets.
TK: I have two memories of you-one is of a picture of you from your high school yearbook playing basketball and the other is of you leaving the house one night after dinner in white shorts and an orange tee shirt to go running, and you came back sweaty with your legs all red from the cold. Am I delusional?
SK: No. Actually, the basketball photo wasn’t varsity ball. It was Girls’ Athletic Association, an intramural league. I played after school during basketball season, once a week. I was captain of the team.
TK: Because you’re so organized.
SK: [Laughs.] Maybe I pushed the hardest. I have no idea.
TK: What did you like about basketball?
SK: I liked the fact that I was on a team, that it was a team effort. I liked being able to get the ball in the hoop.
TK: You weren’t afraid of the ball? (I am.)
SK: No I liked that you could bounce the ball, it reminded me of dancing because you had to take your steps while you were bouncing the ball, and it had a rhythm to it.
TK: Did you and Dad every play basketball together?
SK: No, well, maybe just to fool around…but I remember him coming to stand just inside the gymnasium door to watch me play. He would be grinning the whole time. He played JV and Varsity basketball.
TK: You have lupus. How did you get it?
SK: When I had the infection after my operation, and I was rushed to the hospital, they gave me massive doses of antibiotics. That threw my own immune system out of balance. This in turn caused my system to send out antibodies which started to attach healthy tissue.
SK: Yes, my immune system has been compromised, I’ll always have lupus, I’ll always take medication, and I’ll always be in danger of getting an infection.
TK: How has it most changed your life?
SK: You know how much Dad and I love to travel and visit different places. After my second trip to the hospital with pneumonia this September, I’ve made the decision to not travel outside of the United States. I’m afraid of getting an infection in a country where there’s a language barrier and I can’t explain my condition and medical needs.
TK: What bums you out the most about having lupus?
SK: The fact that any minor cold I get could turn into pneumonia and I’ll end up in the hospital. Lupus is debilitating, and I never know which day I’ll have difficulty breathing and have to change my plans. I try not to let the lupus get me down.
TK: Did you know I got an allergy attack cleaning out Nana’s basement closets so we could donate clothes and linens to the Lupus Foundation?
SK: Yes, you told me. That was quite a sacrifice, thanks. [Laughs.]
TK: What do you think of my running?
SK: I love the idea that you run. I brag about it.
TK: I brag about your quilting, and your cheesecake. Anything else you want to share, Mom?
SK: I enjoyed running, and I used to do it by myself every evening. A neighbor asked me once if she could run with me, and she was a talker. I used to get out of breath, talking to her, and I stopped enjoying running. So rather than telling her no, or changing my routine, I stopped running. There’s a moral in there.
I was most afraid about having lupus before I started taking my medication and my joints would swell. In a matter of a few hours they’d get so swollen I couldn’t bend my fingers to pick up a pencil. The thought of having to spend the rest of my life like that was awful. What would I do without my quilting? The thing I’m most grateful for is the medicine keeping all the swelling and pain under control.
Here is the link to the donation page for the Walk with Us to Cure Lupus Walkathon. Currently there is no cure for lupus.
TK is not joking that she would be afraid of a ball. When tossed something she tends to cringe and curl up like an armadillo in fear. Much like Michael Cera’s character ‘George Michael’ in Arrested Development.
rD
Tav, what a wonderful interview with your mom. However, I’d like to piggyback (piggytail?) onto your delightful interview by adding that she has another mentionable trait besides being a wonderful quilter and baker and shopper and mom (and grandmom)…She also knows how to be a wonderful friend and I’ve been on the very lucky end of that trait! I love her dearly too!!!! (AND she and your dad raised two pretty awesome kids/adults!)
[...] then there they were. I saw my mom first, scanning the crowd with her big blue eyes. I couldn’t shout to them, I got choked up at [...]