Bradley Carlson - Wisconsin 1 Step at a Time: Taking Steps to Trample Muscular Dystrophy

WISCONSIN
1 STEP AT A TIME

Taking Steps To Trample Muscular Dystrophy

Bradley Carlson

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

Wisconsin 1 Step at a Time

Taking Steps To Trample Muscular Dystrophy

Copyright 2012 by Bradley Carlson.

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ISBN: 978-1-4620-6943-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4620-6945-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4620-6944-6 (e)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 12/28/2011

Contents

For Alice, Robert, and Jerrys Kids around the world

Wisconsin never looked so good.

Seems to me I first really met Bradley Carlson in hardly a garden spot. It was the darkness of a bowling alley bar, as he pulled a late shift and served us up some bottled beer. It was the afterglow of celebrating the induction of our areas newest bowling hall-of-famers.

Bradley belongs to bowling, through and through. And hes a Wisconsinite, and rightfully proud of it.

Bradley Carlson has a debilitating neuromuscular disease known as Beckers muscular dystrophy. It defines him, but in the most uplifting of ways.

Wisconsin 1 Step at a Time is a travelogue like no other, told through the quirks, incredible beauty, and history of a great state, with a guide like no other. Beckers muscular dystrophy ultimately forced Bradley to the bowling sidelines: it makes simple walking difficult and precarious. So this man chose to bring Wisconsin to life for readers with his sometimes unsteady stride. Six hundred citiesbridges, sand dunes, waterfallshe walked them all.

Did you know the home with the brightest yellow paint is in Hilbert? Fish are a-plenty in Wisconsins waters, but it takes Bradley Carlson to introduce us to a burger-flipping trout.

Bradleys honesty is everywhere in a journey that took ten years and was a lifetime in the making. For the record, every mile is documented in the most indisputable way. Bradley brought family, friends, and strangers along to walk all corners of the state.

My modest contribution to this entertaining and inspiring saga comes as a result of serving for many years as emcee of Madisons Labor Day Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Telethon. I somewhat stumbled into the role as a by-product of being a news reporter for WKOW TV. Ive remained in the role to honor the courageous people who benefit from the MDA Telethon. The Telethons purpose is to solicit funding for medical research into Beckers muscular dystrophy and thirty-nine related conditions, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Lou Gehrigs disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS). Financial pledges during the Telethon also support a childrens summer camp; the purchase of adaptive equipment to help people with physical challenges live, work, and play; and worldwide educational efforts to raise awareness of these diseases and support efforts to treat and cure them.

At its heart, Wisconsin 1 Step at a Time opens our eyes to the struggle of living with these conditions. In addition to his own insights, Bradley includes moving vignettes from friends and family members who also have neuromuscular disease or care for those who do. Their stories bring me to tears.

Like life at times, this is not a walk in the park. Bradleys sojourn involves constant searching for sidewalks with curb cuts, for the good fortune to stay ahead of storms, for the fortitude to recover from frequent falls, and for the humility to absorb the embarrassment of having to be gingerly helped up in the middle of town.

Through it all, as this forty-something guy traveled on foot, he meticulously noted what many might have missed. If youre a veteran, you will appreciate Brads homage to Wisconsin places memorializing the deeds of those who have served. If you like pie, he takes you to Osseo. If youre a Badger whos tended a corner garden with love, theres a chance you made these pages. If you have trouble getting around, its a how-to and where-to.

It was a great walk, Bradley writes of a fall afternoon in the community of Windsorone of his almost countless days on the road. Feeling the leaves crunch underfoot and hearing them shuffle around is something special.

Bradley Carlson has given us something specialsomething that will stir for many a love of a place in Americas heartland and renewed faith in the human spirit.

Take that step.

Tony Galli

Hello, Im glad to meet you. My name is Bradley, and I am from a special place in the Midwest we like to call Wisconsin. Maybe you have heard of it? It is the home of cheese, cows, and corn. It is the playground of the Milwaukee Bucks, the Milwaukee Brewers, and our beloved Green Bay Packers. Did you know that we are home to the worlds largest six-pack and to a four-and-a-half-story fish and that without us, you could be without hamburgers and ice cream sundaes? Many famous people, from psychics to scientists, have called Wisconsin home. More than a few notorious criminals have lurked in our woods and cities. The incomparable Harry Houdini was even able to Escape to Wisconsin. We have giant sculptures made of everything from cement and broken bottles to rusty tractors and bottle caps. There are ghosts, serpents, and even UFOs causing a ruckus almost everywhere.

You see, Wisconsin is more than brats and beer, and much more than farms and fields. You should stop by sometimewe would gladly show you around. I know the state very well, having been born and raised right here in Americas Dairyland. Ive seen it all, from Lake Michigan to the mighty Mississippi, and still have a lot more to see. Allow me to tell you about it and to show you around a bit.

Wisconsin, our nations thirtieth state, sits nicely among two Great Lakes. The St. Croix, Black, and Mississippi Rivers create our western border, and we share our entire southern border with Illinois. We are in close proximity to both Chicago and Minneapolis, making Wisconsin a vacation destination. Every weekend, thousands of cars pour across our borders en route to grand getaways. Our landscape was etched and engraved by the glacial withdrawal ending the last Ice Age, and we are thus blessed with innumerable streams, lakes, and rivers. We have forests and parks abounding everywhere. Within our borders, you can find prairie flatlands, grassy hillsides, rocky outcroppings, waterfalls, canyons, and even mountains.

Many immigrants came to Wisconsin and settled numerous villages and towns, giving us great cultural diversity. We also have a strong Native American heritage, with several reservations from north to south. These Wisconsin dwellers left a great cultural thumbprint that you can see when traveling from one city to another. We have both intriguing architecture and interesting homes. We have art in public places and public places full of art. You would not have to drive very far to get from one interesting place to another, and there are many beautiful routes on which to get around. We have so much to see and just as much to doyou would love it here.