My wife, Deb Meyerson, has discipline.  As long as I've known her she could just say -- "I want to get in better shape" and she'd just exercise every day.  After her stroke in 2010, that discipline paid off -- countless therapists said they rarely see people work so hard.  

As I celebrated my 65th birthday in May, and celebrated 9 months as grandson Nilan's "pops", I decided it was time to get back into better shape.  And I'm not Deb!  I need something to scare me into exercising really consistently (that or a friend dragging me out -- I'm a social athlete!) 

I've never done anything quite like this.  Whether I can finish 31 miles within the 10 hour course limit (my goal is a mix of very slow jogging and fast hiking) doesn't really matter.  My real goal is to live the spirit of Stroke Onward, and honor Deb and millions of stroke survivors -- current and future -- by trying to build a better system of care.  And  yes, get myself in better shape too.

Deb and I founded Stroke Onward with a mission to help all stroke survivors and those closest to them rebuild their identities and live the very best lives they can.  The lack of support in the stroke system of care for that critical piece of the recovery effort is what we identified and named while writing Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves after Stroke.  Almost 15 years after Deb's stroke changed the course of our lives, we continue the hard work of leaning into that mission ourselves, as a stroke survivor and carepartner couple.   

If you're inclined, please contribute whatever you can to support the work of Stroke Onward.  No amount is too small. If not, maybe just join our community at www.strokeonward.org.  

Thanks for reading this far, and for any support you might provide.  Onward...

Steve