Steve Gleason Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony January 15, 2020

Well done good and faithful servant, Matthew 25.  I thank God for each and every day. Extra thanks for this day.  It was special.  Mike and I have never experienced anything like it.  God is good and so was this day.  There is really no way to describe our experience in a blog post.  I will give it a try.  Emotional, inspirational, phenomenal, surreal!!!  

The medal was handled with white gloves!!!! 

      

I didn't take these pictures.  I assume they were taken before the ceremony in a different room.  This is the commissioner of NFL Football, Roger Goodell.

These are all the speakers at the ceremony.

Now to our journey.   We took an Uber to the Capital Building.  We had seen the building from a distance but not this close up. Again the size of the building was overwhelming.  We walked around the corner and we were greeted by security guards.  They pointed us in the right direction.  We did have to go through security.  No security issues this time.

We all gathered in a long hall waiting to be ushered into the Statuary Hall.  We don't get dressed up often so we needed a picture for sure.

Time to move into the Statuary Hall.  

Wow!  I spent some time just looking around.  The room was stunning.  The statues here are statues of others who have received the Congressional Gold Medal.  George Washington, Rosa Parks, and more.

There was an air of reverence and respect in the room.

I took a video when we first arrived.  

Blair, posing at the podium!

Mike, Kyle and friend.  I know the friend's name but I have no idea how to spell it.  It is different.

There were very few recognizable faces in the room.

We are in the next two pictures on the right side, second row.

After the arrival of the dignitaries and Steve the flags were presented.

I would have loved to record the National Anthem being sung.  It was so distinguished and exceptional.  A picture was all I felt comfortable doing.  Everyone was totally engaged, listening and singing the National Anthem.  

The opening prayer.

These are the different individuals that spoke about Steve.  

Bill Cassidy is a senator from Louisiana.  He is the person that started the ball rolling to award Steve the medal.

Ben Schneider of Lord Huron sang, "Ends of the Earth." He has been to the Gleason's home to sing for them.

This was the speech that was emotional for me.  Drew Brees knows Steve personally and his speech showed that.  When he spoke about learning that Steve was diagnosed with ALS it flashed me back to the same thing.

Our seats were great but not great for picture taking.  Steve is about to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. 

As soon as I started to take a picture of this moment Rivers moved Steve's eye technology device so pictures could be taken straight ahead. 

Unfortunately, that move covered Steve's face from our view!

I did take this picture from someone else or from some other place on the Internet.

It's Steve's turn to talk!

I had the same issue with Steve's speech.  Can't see Steve's face but we heard him and it was remarkable.  

Steve Gleason’s Acceptance Speech:

Hi there everyone.

Thank you Speaker Pelosi, Leaders McConnell, Schumer, and MacCarthy, Senators Cassidy and Murray, Representatives Richmond and Scalise, and all members of Congress

Also,  thank you for coming to DC, and speaking today Drew.

Just so everyone knows, today is Drew’s birthday. So, Drew, let me wish you a very Capitol,  Happy birthday brother.

This award, from the elected officials who represent the people of the United States of America, is a sublime honor for me. But, I feel that, more importantly, I feel that this honor represents some joy, encouragement, and even triumph, for the tens of thousands of extraordinary families currently enduring life with ALS, the millions of extraordinary people in this country living with disabilities or other illness, and more broadly, all of you ordinary humans, who experience adversity, tragedy, or anguish.

No one is immune from anguish, tragedy, or adversity. Not even elected officials, NFL players, or even the most holy Saints

I suppose I don’t see my story is a football story, or even an ALS story, but rather, a human, story.

The truth is that we all experience pain in our lives. But, I  believe that the problems we face, are our opportunity, and define our purpose.

I believe that adversity is our opportunity, because we will all face pain and tragedy. But, it’s clear to me that beyond the human capacity of imagination, our greatest strength, as a species, has been, our ability to bravely share our weaknesses and vulnerabilities with each other.

Doing that, we’re able to understand the issue and collaborate with each other, to solve problems, and overcome any obstacle.

While sharing one’s weaknesses may not be common practice for people, especially for politicians in an election year, wink wink..

Sharing my weaknesses was entirely critical, for me to play eight years in the NFL, and it has been unquestionably critical to my survival and purpose for the past nine years, living with a disease as dreadful as ALS. I am grateful to the, literally thousands of people who have directly uplifted me, both emotionally and physically in my 42 years. Most importantly, I’m grateful to my parents, for instilling in me many of the values I’ve used to be successful.  And, of course, my wife Michel. This is not the life we imagined, and it hasn’t been easy, but through communication and compassion, we’re living an awesome life.

In addition to understanding that,  I had to share my weaknesses, to survive and succeed, I’m fortunate to have a motivation and a reason to live. Our son Rivers, and our daughter, Gray. They give me purpose, the purpose of a lifetime.

Some of you may disagree, but I believe there has been no greater time in history, to be a human. At the same time, I don’t think anyone here, or anyone watching will disagree that, we as a country, and more appropriately, we as a global species, face enormous challenges in the coming decades of the 21st century. Challenges like exploring and colonizing other planets, or thoughtfully solving climate change, or positively harnessing, the seemingly miraculous power of artificial intelligence, so people’s disabilities are turned into super abilities.

These challenges provide us with an exponential opportunity, as Americans, and, as humans.

Because if we can share our weaknesses with each other, and compassionately collaborate to solve problems, our human potential is boundless. If we can work to understand and solve each other’s problems, and each other’s pain, compassionately,  then, truly, all things are possible.

Thank you again, to the people of the United States of America, a nation I’m so proud to live in, for this unbelievable honor.

Well, there you have it. I know the work of Team Gleason and Steve is not done. I can only imagine what is to come. Time will tell us.

                                               Steve and Team Gleason

                            Well done good and faithful servant, Matthew 25