A little over a year ago the lives of our children, Cassondra Mitchell and Alex Phillips, would change in a major way!  Their dad, Pete Phillips, was diagnosed with ALS.  For those of you that may not know, ALS is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, it is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord.  ALS often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg, trouble swallowing or slurred speech. Eventually ALS affects control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe. There is no cure for this fatal disease.   Unfortunately, Pete has frontotemporal dementia as well.  This type of dementia causes problems with language and decision-making.

Ammy and I would like to invite you to join us in supporting ALS United Dayton.  ALS United helps provide comprehensive support and advocacy for people with ALS and their families, while advancing research for new treatments and an end to ALS.  One of the most heart-breaking things was having our 8 year old grandson talk about being able to go shoot a BB gun with his Papa Pete when he is old enough, knowing that this most likely will not happen. Your giving will help provide much needed support to patients with ALS as well as support for their caregivers and families.