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Mine is Michael Muckridge. I’m from Indianapolis, Indiana. I turned 44 this year. I work at St. Vincent
Hospital. I’m a licensed social worker in the state of Indiana; got my BSW and MSW from
the IU School of Social Work. I did start my educational career off at San Diego State
when I lived out in California; however, my partner and I moved back to Indiana when my
ex-wife moved to Illinois so we could be closer to my son.
I have multiple sclerosis so no two days are alike for me. As years have gone on and stuff
has happened, I’ve lost more functioning and that was just from setbacks from the hospital.
Going to have one thing done and something else happen and something else happening and
then just when I get the strength back. I feel as those that put a hindrance on the
relationship to some degree. To where it’s, and he hates it when I say it but to where
it reaches from a caregiver-caregiving relationship versus.
That just might be my perception. He says it’s not any different but I feel as those it is.
How we met? We were at a club that’s called
West Coast Production Company in San Diego. It was three stories tall. We were both in
the second story; I went up to him and asked him, “Do you want to dance?” He’s like,
no. I’m like come on and we went downstairs and we danced. That was before the cane, before
the diagnosis. I was diagnosed a year after Don and I were
together. It’s sad to say this but in the gay community image is everything. So when
I got home from the doctor’s office I called him at work and he worked at Dana Point which
was an hour and a half from San Diego where we lived at. I said, “You know the doctors
think I have MS. I won’t be home tonight just so you can pack your stuff up if you
want to and I understand.” He says, “What do you mean?” I said, “I would understand
if you don’t want to be in this relationship.” He says, “Are you joking?” Here we are
going on 20 years. But what’s funny is I do joke with him I’m like you know I did
tell you 20 years ago you could just walk away and wouldn’t have to be here.
I have a lot of colleagues to talk to, you know, keep me grounded. I also am a facilitator
of a MS self-help support group and that really helps out a lot. About one time a month we
come together to meet and somebody knows exactly what I’m going through versus somebody who
you live with, you know, whether you’re in a relationship with them, if it’s our
partner or your husband, your wife, your child. They don’t know exactly what I’m going
through but somebody else that has MS, I can tell them and they know exactly what I met.