Author Archives: Rick Jobus

“Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home. … When my life is almost gone, Hear my cry, hear my call, Hold my hand lest I fall.” Although I fall light-years shy of the realm of gospel music aficionado, certain songs of that genre move me like no selection from…

“I been in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time, I’d have said the right thing, but I must have used the wrong line, I’d have took the right road, but I must have took a wrong turn, Would have made the right move, but I…

“The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.”  Time fascinates me, now more than ever. In my own way, in the face of ALS, I’ve learned to enjoy its passing.  I am writing this seconds after hearing…

“‘The problem is all inside your head,’ she said to me, ‘The answer is easy if you take it logically,’ … She said, ‘It grieves me so to see you in such pain, I wish there was something I could do to make you smile again.’ I said, ‘I appreciate…

“I know all too well it don’t come easy, The chains of the world they seem to movin’ tight. I try to walk around, if I’m stumbling so come, Tryin’ to get up but the doubt is so strong, There’s gotta be a winning in my bones. I am looking…

“By the rivers of Babylon Where we sat down And there we wept When we remembered Zion But the wicked carried us away in captivity Required from us a song How can we sing King Alpha song In…

“To dream the impossible dream, To fight the unbeatable foe, … To reach the unreachable star, … This is my quest.” Vanquish ALS! Last week, my wife and I enjoyed a visit from a dear friend of ours. Interactions with him always have a quixotic effect on my psyche. Just…

“And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack … And you may ask yourself, ‘Well, how did I get here?’ … Letting the days go by, same as it ever was.” Although I’m not proud of it, my life, pre-ALS, was largely a fortunate stream of autopilot idleness.

“And you know that you’re over the hill, When your mind makes a promise that your body can’t fill.” This refrain from the Little Feat song “Old Folks Boogie” could have been written with ALS sufferers in mind. It partly portrays our truncated existence. It humorously depicts making the…

“The book I’m not reading is riveting The book I’m not reading keeps me up at night The book I’m not reading is better than TV Giving me insight.” These lyrics from “The Book I’m Not Reading,” by singer and songwriter Patty Larkin, vaguely describe a literary quest of…