Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The first time I had a chance to be interviewed on the radio was when the late Mike Cotter wanted to interview my cousin and I about our family history.

Mike had a radio show on KAUS AM in Austin. He was the storyteller and he invited people to come on the air and tell their story. My cousin Keri and I were honored to be on his show.

We are both distantly related to the Cotter family on my dad’s side of the family tree. Ever since that time, I had always thought I would like to be on the radio again, and my opportunity came last Friday. John Wright, from KAUS, asked if I would like to talk about my column, my disease and the journey I am on with ALS. I was able to share my stories with John Wright. I talked about the months before I was diagnosed, the initial diagnosis and all that has come afterwards.

I did not think that I would have so much to say, but the interview has been broken down into three segments. The first one aired last Wednesday, Sept. 15. The next two will be Sept. 22 at approximately 10:35 a.m. and Sept. 29 at the same time.

John said I will be invited back at some point to talk about a book of my columns that I am putting together. I am hoping to have the book complete in the next month or so, and it will be sold at Sweet Reads in downtown Austin. All the proceeds will go to the ALS Association.

The same day that the first radio program aired, I received a call from the ALS Association. One of the coordinators at the ALS Association wanted to know if I was interested in being interviewed by KTTC TV out of Rochester. The story would address the difficulties of living with ALS during the COVID pandemic.

I told her that it would be fine, and within an hour I was talking with a reporter from KTTC. He asked if they could arrive and take some camera footage of my family and I with a short interview. I told him it would be fine. My mom and dad arrived and my aunt stopped over for a visit. The reporter asked my mom and I some questions about living with ALS and managing the COVID pandemic. It was an interesting experience. I had never been interviewed for TV before. It was so random that the two events with the radio and the TV happened on the same day. The reporter from the TV station was surprised when I told him that I had just been on radio that morning.

I am grateful for the experience to bring awareness to ALS and the struggles we all face with living with COVID-19. I am looking forward to my next adventure. You just never know what your day might bring.