Hello all! I’m already impressed, touched, and overwhelmed by your stories of how your hour of silence went today. I would LOVE to share your stories of silence; it would be amazingly powerful to have them all in one place. Please consider sharing your experience below. If you are not able to spend an hour in silence today, go ahead and share what you would miss or fear if you were stuck in silence. Your empathy can move mountains and inspire ALS awareness!

I didn’t speak for an hour and it wasn’t all that easy… My mom and I were sitting at the kitchen table having coffee reading the paper and being silent. Every once in a while a word would almost come out and I would catch myself. I was mindful of the fact that this Made communication so difficult especially with someone else in the room. A lot of other emotions such as frustration and anxiety. Rachel is so brave and I grieve for her and for Evan every day but at the same time I remain hopeful that one day there will be a breakthrough, the one we all are waiting for.” – Renee (my mom!)

” I had planned on taking the vow of silence, but my husband’s feed tube had an issue, and I needed to speak to our hospice team. But that then brings up they thought of, what if he needed to communicate the issues to the team? How frustrating and difficult it would be. So even without taking the vow, I know the horror he would have to go through. ALS may cripple one person’s voice, but thankfully, there is usually a village to roar for them!” – Glynis, author of Life After ALS: A Caregiver’s Journey

“I participated today. I occupied myself with reading a new book next to Harley on the bed, and to be honest it was hard. For one, I drifted off for 5-10 minutes, and it was hard not to talk to Harley, as I normally would, as I petted him with one hand and held my book in the other. At first, I was frustrated by my forgetfulness, but then I reassured myself the whole point was to think about what it would be like if I couldn’t verbally express myself. I was ‘trying on’ silence and checking myself in the mirror, so to speak. I did share my mission with a friend this morning at church, and it moved her. So I don’t win any awards today for successfully keeping silent, but my intention was pure.” – Mitzi

I wasn’t able to do the hour of silence today but if I did it would be so difficult to not be able to tell my family I loved them.” -Sarah