Doug's Journal: November 2001

NOTE: Some people might find my journal troubling due to the paralysis caused by ALS. Newly diagnosed patients and their families may find the topics and pictures at this stage to be overwhelming, and may want to begin at the beginning (1997).

Previous months and years are listed at the top of this page. 
Please feel free to send me email about my Journal at dogma101@netset.com or regular mail at 

ALS Survival Guide
P.O. Box 587
New Albany, OH 43054-0587

I am proud to be an American! 

Friday, November 02, 2001

I nap often during the day. Most times I doze while watching TV, there is not much on during the day, so I watch a lot of news on CNN. I cannot wait for this ring of terror to broken for good. Have you noticed how that mass-murderer bin Laden isn’t on TV anymore? Is he already dead? Lots of room in hell for his type.

Sunday, November 25, 2001

Now that I think of it, I need to finish the story that I started about my friend Bob Smith and I and the train.  Yes, we jumped onto the open boxcar as the train moved slowly past.  My grandfather had “ridden the rails” in his youth and he often mesmerized us with his stories about trains, hobos, and life on the road.  Actually, he mesmerized us quite a bit.  Grandpa Bud had lost a leg in a logging accident when he was only 18 or 19 years old.  My brother and I could never remember which leg was his artificial leg, so we were forever “bumping” into him to try to figure it out.  He learned to ski when he was in his seventies and taught me how to fly fish and ride a horse.  But I digress.

Bob and I were congratulating ourselves on our successful leap into the boxcar and talking about the things boys of that age talk about, namely cars, beer, and girls.  While we were talking, the train had gathered speed as it approached downtown Youngstown and we suddenly looked at each other, panic-stricken.  How were we going to get off the train?  After much hemming and hawing, we decided to take a leap (of faith, literally) and jumped off the train.  We rolled and were bumped and bruised about, but we survived the ignorance of our youth!  Needless to say, we never tried that stunt again.  To top it off, we had to walk several miles to get back home….

Doug continues to grow weaker and has not been able to do much work on the website.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with many family members who made the trek to Ohio--my sister Paula and family from Fort Worth, Texas, my two sisters--Trudy and Chrissie from Cincinnati and their families, my niece Stephanie from Kansas City, my other niece Carolyn and family from Chicago, and my mom and of course, Dan.  We had a total of 20 people gathered together for dinner.  All I had to cook was the turkey and stuffing--everyone else did the rest and my nephews took care of the clean up--there were a lot of dishes to wash!!  Much beer was consumed, much yakking took place (well, when you get four out of five sisters together....), and everyone was glad that they could come to visit.  Thank you to everyone who e-mails Doug and is concerned about him--we truly appreciate it.  Blessings to all of you.

Douglas Edwin Eshleman, age 43, died this morning around 5:30 a.m. EST.  He will be forever missed by his family and friends, but we are grateful that his pain is gone and that he will spend eternity in the arms of the Lord.  We humbly thank everyone who helped us during Doug's long illness.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made in Doug's memory to the ALS Association Western Ohio Chapter, 1810 MacKenzie Drive, Suite 120, Columbus, Ohio 43220.  Phone (614) 273-2572.

Irene & Dan