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Eloise Lovelace was a healthy, active woman who, even at the age of sixty, looked forward to many years of travels, outdoor escapades and adventures with the grandchildren. With her love of the outdoors, she had spent a good part of her life camping and hiking in the mountains, or hearing the sounds of the surf as she strolled along the beaches. She and her husband raised two beautiful girls who grew up to create warm, loving families. Ms. Lovelace became a special education teacher, instilling in her students a love of new experiences and opportunities for inclusion with the community around them. Ms. Lovelace learned, at age 63, that she had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's Disease, a debilitating, progressive disease for which there is no cure. Rather than have her world fall apart, she first fought the disease, through researching any possible causes and through engaging in every drug trial for which she was qualified. When these failed to make a dent in the cruel course of the disease, she began accepting the many changes that were taking place in her body. She progressed from speech difficulties to not being able to eat at all, from slight weakness to falls that strained muscles or broke bones, from a cane to a walker to a wheelchair, from a BiPAP machine at night to a full time ventilator. All this time she has maintained an overall positive outlook on life. She has the love and support of friends and extended family members, including the undying devotion of a husband, two daughters and their spouses, and four grandchildren. These people not only have shown their love through letters, care and visits, but also have found ways of getting her out to be a part of the active world and be an integral part of her grandchildren's lives. This love has enabled Ms. Lovelace to show others that even a person who cannot talk, eat or walk can enjoy a soccer game, school performance, shopping spree, concert or walk in the redwoods. It

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9781478721727

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Eloise Lovelace, with her love of nature and wildlife, spent much of her life in the outdoors, camping, backpacking, hiking, fishing and skiing. She devoted many years as a special education teacher, never realizing that she herself would one day trade in those walking shoes for a wheelchair and a tracheotomy tube. In the fall of 2010, she was diagnosed with the devastating disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's Disease, and moved to the redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains. With her loving and supportive husband, two daughters, four grandchildren and numerous other family members and friends, she continues to see the beauty of the world around her, appreciating every moment that life has to offer.

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