Portals

“Portal”. A doorway or gate that provides access to another space.

Now as the regular college football season nears an end, we hear of dozens of players who are entering the NCAA’s transfer portal to look for more playing time at another collegiate program. Savvy coaches endeavor to optimize the opportunity to pick up good players who, for some reason, elected not to come to their program in the first place.

Just finished watching, for the third time, Ken Burns’ first episode of his acclaimed series, “The National Parks – America’s Best Idea”.  Thank Goodness that Americans and their leaders during the 19th and 20th Centuries voluntarily elected to preserve pristine and beautiful spaces of America’s most glorious landscape, not to be trampled by money driven profits of man-made developments.  

One contributor called the National Parks a “portal” to the awe-inspiring grandness of historic America. I agree to a point. In addition to historic grandness, I find that the National Parks provide today’s America and her visitors unique and beautiful safe places free of human conflict, pandemics, classism, racism, sexisim, and financial worries. Thank Goodness for the vision and tenacity of original pre-eminent park advocate, John Muir, who championed the establishment of Yosemite National Park which, in turn, motivated President Teddy Roosevelt to enact legislation to preserve large spaces of land and waterways to become national parks.

Does DMD have portals? Yes. For my grandson Hayes, now 7 years old going on 10, his sharp intellect, funny personality, and charisma appreciated by his classmates provide a gateway for us nearest to him to access his greatest gifts to the exclusion of thoughts of the horrible aspects of DMD. Other DMD children have their own special means and talents, or portals, for helping their families, friends, and caregivers avoid the deep angst caused by DMD.

May researchers and medical providers find medical and genetic portals that divert DMD children from the progressively destructive effects of DMD to better days of mitigation and, may I say, a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  

Kindly yours,

Papa in Franklin