The Theory of Everything

This discussion was a real treat as Katrina Hawking told stories of meeting her father in law and traveling with someone famous. I learned so much about this person who was larger than life and also Granddad.

I just found out Stephen Hawking is British.

“We were trying to play a civilized game of croquet and Steven was charging around the croquet pitch, running over other people’s balls and honking his horn and knocking down the wickets. And just, you know, we were all having a really good time.”

“he continued to go into the office and work for his entire life up until a month before he passed at the age of 76. Even once he was at home in his in his room, there was a whiteboard in his room And when we came for the funeral, there were brand new equations on the board. He had been working with colleagues right up until just a few weeks before he passed. “

“Steven was very much very interested in being well known. He loved popularizing science. He wanted to travel a lot. He wanted to be on stage. And really that was what gave him a lot of energy, a lot of life.”

“He wouldn’t wish for anyone to have A.L.S., that it was a terrible, terrible diagnosis. But for him, it had really galvanized his purpose in life, realizing that he only had a short time he thought, to live. Had really focused his energy in a way that he hadn’t been before. And so for him, it had been a very important thing that he didn’t think that he would have been as successful if that hadn’t happened to him.”

We would end many lecture series by needing to get on the phone and call around local salsa club to see who had a wheelchair accessible dance floor. And long after other people thought it was time to call things an evening, Stephen would be wanting to close down the dance floor.

The Her ALS Story group has realized the benefit of collaboration and in person events. If interested, donations towards our Wellness Retreat in Madison, Wisconsin can be made here or here for tax purposes.