What I Would Do with a Million Dollars
If I were ever asked when I was younger what I would do if I inherited a million dollars, my answer would always include buying all of the toys I could ever imagine or a mansion or other luxuries that I could only dream about. Now my answer would be different because of a situation that has brought a significant challenge to my life. My mother was diagnosed with MS when I was born. It progressively took over her life and our family life.
Each day was, and still is, a hard, frustrating and stressful time. This incurable disease has had a dramatic effect over the years starting when I was in kindergarten. I remember when my mother started using a cane so she wouldn't fall when she walked. She could still work, drive, and go on outings with me, her only daughter. In the beginning I didn't know how to grasp it all but I gradually understood a little more each day.
By the time I was in second grade my mother needed a walker. Because I loved my mother who was my best friend, I hated to see what MS did to her. I still do. It eats me up inside when I think about how the disease is getting worse and worse. I sometimes tell myself that this is as bad as it can get; but I have been wrong about that.
By the time I had entered middle school she was in a wheelchair. She was no longer able to do her favorite things - work, drive or swim. I wondered why there wasn't a cure for her. Is it because there is not enough money for research? I think every day that this will be over soon and there will be a new medicine she can try. There have been many drugs that doctors have prescribed but none seemed to work. My mother and our whole family get our hopes up so high every time. Nothing seems to stop the progression of this disease.
MS has taken away a perfect life and for no reason. When something hurts this much you try to fix it or find a way to make it better. That is why if someone asked me what I would do with a million dollars, I could think of no better way to spend it than on research in MS. Then maybe the hurt would go away from my mother's life and from all the people and families who live with this awful disease.
Honestly, I would keep whatever I need for college, some for my family, and give the rest away to charities and environmental organizations as soon as I could. I've heard too many lottery failure stories, where the winner has no idea what to do, succumbs to a life of excess and- boom- bankrupt in a matter of years. Or the people they know start bugging them for money and they destroy all their relationships and live lavish hermit lives until they die.
BUT if I worked for the money, and earned it with my own hands, I would probably put it in the bank and watch it grow.