GREENSBORO -- Albert Smith has thought a lot about Drew Squires this week.

You may remember Squires. I wrote about him in this space last Saturday. He's the 35-year-old father, husband and retired attorney who's battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. It has stolen Squire's ability to function normally.

Squires can't walk or use his left arm. He speaks in a thick-tongued slur, and he relies on a motorized wheelchair to ferry him around his house as his 2-year-old daughter, Abby, and the family's dog, Cooper, play at his feet. I've heard from at least a dozen people who've asked about Squires. A phone call, an e-mail, a stop in a school hallway, a mention on the street.

Then I heard from Smith.

He had just gotten off his third-shift job through Kelly Services at Tyco Electronics, where he helps make components for telephones and computers, when he read about Squires. He couldn't sleep. So, he started writing.

Actually, Smith started writing a year ago when his church, New Jerusalem Cathedral in Greensboro, held a talent show. He didn't want simply to write jokes. He wanted to do something different. He chose acronyms.

It's some funny stuff. Like D.I.E.T. "The No. 1 New Year's resolution is to go on a D.I.E.T.,'' Smith writes, "and everyone that I know who makes this vow always ends up asking the same question, 'Did I eat that?' ''

Or M.A.T.H. "One day, my son came up to me and said, 'Dad, I don't get math,' '' he writes. "When I asked why, he responded, 'It makes arithmetic too hard.' ''

But when he read about Squires, he thought about the late Christopher Reeve, the star of "Superman" who in 1995 became paralyzed from the neck down after a horse-riding accident.

Smith remembered how Reeve overcame devastating adversity to forge a life of passionate activism. Then he thought about Squires -- how he laughs and talks about his faith and the strength of family and friends.

As Smith sat in bed, the acronyms came. So he found a piece of cardboard in his bedroom and started writing.

Like A.B.C.D. A Blessing Coming Drew.

Or L.I.F.E. Living Is For Example.

Or D.A.D. "He has a daughter," Smith writes, "and I'm sure when he looks in her eyes that they are saying D.A.D."

Smith transferred the acronyms to one of his son's writing tablets, called me up on Monday and left them at the front desk at Peeler Open School for the Performing Arts, where both of our sons go.

He asked me to give his acronyms to Squires, as well as "Anthem," one of his poems that includes this verse: "Life dared me, and I'm determined to win. Stumbling. Falling. Standing.''

I wanted to know why someone would take the time to scribble down acronyms in the middle of the night about someone he didn't even know.

Smith, a 40-year-old father of four, had an answer ready.

"I just wanted to let him know that people care about what he's going through, he and his family,'' Smith said.

"It's not a black or white thing. We're all in this together, you know, because that could be me. Everybody needs somebody. I just wanted to let them know they are not alone.''

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jrowe@news-record.com
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs...609300303/1015

My response is short...

Just one act might say so much, "I may not completely understand, but I care and want to understand more...knowing "It's not a black or white thing. We're all in this together, you know, because that could be me. Everybody needs somebody. I just wanted to let them know they are not alone.'

Wow. Yes...

Thank you so much for sharing that, Bobby.

KD