Humility, luck of the draw, response to adversity, courage, etc etc etc

We've run across, and on occasion shared meals and sleeping qtrs with,
a number of other cross-country (or long dx, anyway) riders so far
along the route, but none quite like this guy. This is Allen, who we
met a week or so ago, on the day we came into the Elk Garden Church
(which I wanna say was near Rosedale VA?) early in the day, after a
very short ride, and he was getting ready to head out. Allen has
Friedrich's ataxia (not sure that's the exact right name), a no-cure,
degenerative nerve condition which has already cost him the use of his
legs, and will eventually render him totally unable to control his
body--until it kills him by destroying his ability to breathe. (That
was a hard sentence to write, and probably hard to read, but just
imagine living under that cloud.) Despite this mega-bleak future, he
was an amazingly engaging and upbeat guy -- laughing and joking and
talking with us about his condition and his ride, a perfect lesson in
"you-think-YOU-got-troubles?" He's on a fund- and awareness-raising
ride (I bought one of his T-shirts), on a hand-cranked cycle, from St
Louis to DC -- see www.fromheretothere2010.com. I tried his cycle --
very hard work, altho as he said, unlike us severely-abled types, when
he stops to take a break, his bike doesn't fall over. He had all of
the big VA hills still to climb; I hope he makes it; I bet he will.
Godspeed, Allen.