at the Jewish
Community
Center
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on our
Winter Membership Special:
Matt Lash at his
desk at Michigan
State i ty
Warner Middle School in Farmington
Hills. "They all met in sixth grade.
The boys absorbed him," she says of a
relationship ongoing and unbreakable.
At the first parent-teacher confer-
ence after moving, Man's mom
remembers how the teacher couldn't
believe he was new in school. "She
told me it was as if he had always been
part of his group of friends," she says.
Matt sees the support of friends and
family as "the best medication I've
received."
"They are all part of the treatment,"
Roberta Lash says. "You know all
along you have friends and people
who care, but what has transpired has
been so above and beyond what I
could ever have imagined."
She says, at first, the offers were
overwhelming. "People kept begging
us to come up with something positive
to help us and to help Mart."
Man's dad says, "Jeremy Wolf said he
would leave school if Matt needed him."
Calling Matt, "my inspiration,'
Roberta Lash says his life has been a
series of adventures, with "Matthew sto-
ries" always a part of family get-togethers.
"He is a book all by himself," she
says. "But this chapter is the most
revealing one for us and for our family
and our friends."
Matt says, "Everybody is very posi-
tive. If Ishow I have a lot of strength,
it's because everyone else is so strong. I
didn't realize how lucky I was with
Unbreakable Bond
everything. I didn't expect the turnout.
The closeness of the group impresses
I was afraid of being a burden on them.
even the parents of the longtime
Instead, I realize how great it is to have
friends. "I have never seen a bunch of
this support. What I'm going through
boys cry so hard," Marcia Manson says
isn't nearly as terrible as it could be.
of the inseparable young men who are
For Matt to seem confounded by the
sharing the roughest of times. "They
gestures
of those close to him astounds
are together through the good and the
friend
Jeremy
Manson. "It shocks me
bad. They are such special boys."
for
him
to
be
overwhelmed,"
he says.
Watching them together, she
"It
amazes
me
that
he
would
expect
remembers when Matt first moved
any less from his friends." ❑
from Grand Rapids and started at
"She takes care of me and makes sure
I am doing OK. We talk, we cry togeth-
er, and she has the smile that keeps me
from going insane," Matt says.
"I've told him he is the strongest
person I have ever met," Suzy says.
"He tells me he has something he isn't
supposed to have and he's just gonna
get rid of it. He smiles everyday, even
when I know he doesn't feel well, and
it kills me to not even have the slight-
est idea of what he is going through.
He is a soldier and I love him more
than anything."
Matt has been very open about his
illness. "He is not uncomfortable
about it," says his dad. "He is con-
stantly telling them what he is going
through. He wants them to be a part
of it — not outsiders lookina in."
b for
Not only peers have been there
Matt. "My friends' parents have been
equally great," he says. "I received cards,
phone calls every day, visits in the hos-
pital. (They) have been so strong and
such great friends themselves that they
are my extended family."
"Jeremy Manson's father, Marc, calls
and e-mails my dad to get him to go
to Wednesday-night movies with him
and his friends."
Says Marcia Manson: "We'll always
be there for everybody. That's what
friends are for."
a Health
JOIN NOW an
membership inclu
• High- and low-impact aerobics
• Stairmaster-
• Trotter- treadmills
• StatzLonarY bikes
• State-of-the,art cross training equipment
• Fixed- and flee-weight training
• Pools
• Walking/running tracks (Kahn Building)
• Sauna; steam, whirlpool
• Personal locker 8c towel service
• Member rates on classes
• use of the Inane Hockey Center
• Baby.sitting
PLUS Convenient hours to fit your eau :e:
Sale prices effective January and February 2001
Bring in this ad for a free,
Watch for our net updated
five-consecutive-day guest pass.
fitness center in Oak Park.
Jimmy Prentis Morris Building
A. Alfred Taubman Jewish Community Campus
15110 W. 10 Mile, Oak Park, Ml 48237
D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building
Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus
6600 W. Maple Rd., West Bloomfield, MI 48322
awmcatimm.i,
'Oak Park Health Club membership, age 25-34. Application fee waived. Some restrictions apply. Must not have been a member in the last
12 months. For more information or additional membership options, call (248) 967-4030 in Oak Park or (248) 661-7621 in West Bloomfield.
2/23
2001
17