Manny Borstelmann

“LIVE A GOOD LIFE. IN THE END IT IS NOT THE YEARS IN A LIFE, BUT THE LIFE IN THE YEARS.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Our dad, Manny Borstelmann was diagnosed with ALS in March 2005. He fought a brave battle against this horrible disease and sadly passed away in July 2008. Since then, our family has been participating in the PALS Valentine Plunge in honor of Opa, as known by his grandchildren. We wish Opa could have witnessed a plunge for himself. His favorite place was the Jersey shore. Despite the challenges ALS presented, Opa was able to navigate his wheelchair up to a special spot on the walkway to our beach in South Mantoloking. He loved to sit and watch the ocean and take in the beauty of sunny days on the beach.

After Dad’s diagnosis, we never heard him ask why. Instead, he began to reflect on his life and savored each of his remaining days watching his family grow. ALS may have taken away his ability to walk, talk, eat his favorite foods, do his NY Times crossword puzzles and build in his workshop, but it did not defeat his spirit. Shortly after Dad’s diagnosis, he reconnected with a special friend who visited with him throughout his illness. He shared this with him: “You know John, I’m not sure I’m smart enough to know exactly what will come next.  But I’ve also been thinking about how many times you & I went on trips — and sometimes to some place we’d never been before.  All of those ‘new’ places turned out to be really great.  So I guess I’ve decided that I should just look upon my death as the ultimate trip.  And I have no doubts at all that I’m going to like it when I get there — just like I did so many other new places I’ve traveled to in my lifetime.”

The highlight of his final years was his watching his grandsons grow. They gave him many reasons to laugh and created special memories that they still talk about today. We are sure he is smiling down from Heaven on his 6 grandsons and 1 granddaughter. When we said goodbye to Opa, he was in his bedroom at the shore listening to a video with the waves crashing and his grandsons laughing and playing on the beach.

We look forward to another year taking a cold plunge in hopes of helping other families affected by ALS.