English Original
When Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch in Atlanta, he knew he had not been defeated by Parkinson's. His wife and caregiver, Lonnie Ali, said, "Who would have thought he was a man fighting a disease? Now people can see the real him. He still has the power to inspire people—without even opening his mouth."
Love doesn't stop when a parent, spouse, or friend gets sick. Here are remarkable stories of stepping up, sticking around, and finding joy.
By Camille Peri
Lonnie Ali was six years old, returning home from school in Louisville, Kentucky, when she saw a crowd of boys gathered around a handsome young man in a white shirt, bow tie, and black dress pants. "Look," her mother said from the doorway, "that's Cassius Clay."
Clay, who would soon win the first of three heavyweight boxing titles and change his name to Muhammad Ali, made a point of calling the shy girl over. From then on, whenever he visited his mother across the street, he would also stop by Lonnie's house. "He was like a big brother," she recalls. "I'd believe what he said before I'd believe my father. Muhammad would tell it to me the way it was."
They remained friends as he became a world champion and she went to college, earning a psychology degree and an MBA. At 17, Lonnie felt she would marry him someday—"I knew it was fate." Twelve years later, she did, becoming the boxer's fourth wife. Muhammad had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but the diagnosis didn't faze Lonnie. "I knew the man, not the celebrity," she says. "That's who I loved. And he knew I would always be in his corner."
For a long time, the disease barely slowed him down. Lonnie was more a care partner than a caregiver, nudging him to take his medicine. But gradually, symptoms became more intrusive. A turning point came about 15 years ago during a dinner in Boston. "Muhammad went to put food in his mouth and he froze," she recalls—a temporary immobility characteristic of Parkinson's. Another was when the famously animated boxer became stone-faced. "Then I knew I had challenges to deal with," Lonnie says.
The challenges were practical, emotional, and psychological. Lonnie had to recognize her own limits. Once, overwhelmed by caring for Muhammad, raising their son, and running a business, she felt so unfocused she thought she had an attention deficit disorder. "I went to the doctor and fell asleep in the waiting room," she says. "The doctor said, 'You don't have ADD. You're sleep-deprived.'"
She also learned to accept what she couldn't control. Muhammad, still muscular from daily workouts, now walks haltingly. Once famous for his banter, he often sits in silence. "I've been with him so long, I can look at him and tell what he wants," Lonnie says.
Yet the illness can steal only so much. A quarter-century into his struggle, Muhammad takes piano lessons. Most importantly, this lifelong humanitarian still feels a mission to help others. Early on, he shied away from the spotlight. "He used to play to the camera, but the camera was no longer his friend," Lonnie says. An appearance with fellow Parkinson's sufferer Michael J. Fox changed that. "I think he thought, If Michael can do it, I can do it."
Now, Muhammad Ali doesn't care what people think. In an essay for NPR's "This I Believe," he wrote about carrying the Olympic torch at the 1996 Atlanta Games and realizing his tremors had taken over. "I heard a rumble in the stadium that became a pounding roar and then turned into deafening applause," he wrote. He understood then that Parkinson's had not defeated him.
"There's still a lot for me to learn from him," Lonnie Ali says. "Muhammad was the epitome of strength and beauty, but could someone with physical challenges really relate to him? Probably not. But now they can identify with him. We used to get letters from people with Parkinson's who wouldn't leave the house, but because they saw Muhammad out, now they go out.
"He still has that power to inspire people—without even opening his mouth."
中文翻译
当穆罕默德·阿里在亚特兰大点燃奥运火炬时，他知道自己并未被帕金森病击败。他的妻子兼看护人朗尼·阿里说：“谁能想到他是一个与疾病抗争的人呢？现在人们可以看到真实的他了。即使不开口说话，他仍然拥有激励人心的力量。”
当父母、配偶或朋友生病时，爱不会停止。这里有一些挺身而出、坚守陪伴并寻找快乐的非凡故事。
作者：卡米尔·佩里
朗尼·阿里六岁时，在肯塔基州路易斯维尔放学回家，看到一群男孩围着一个英俊的年轻人，他穿着白衬衫、打着领结、黑色礼服裤。“看，”她母亲站在门口说，“那是卡修斯·克莱。”
克莱不久将赢得三次重量级拳王头衔中的第一个，并改名为穆罕默德·阿里。他特意把害羞的小女孩叫过来。从那时起，每当他去街对面看望母亲时，也会顺道来朗尼家。“他就像一个大哥哥，”她回忆道，“我相信他说的话胜过相信我父亲。穆罕默德会告诉我事情的本来面目。”
他成为世界冠军，她上了大学并获得心理学学位和MBA，他们一直是朋友。17岁时，朗尼觉得有一天会嫁给他——“我知道这是命运。”十二年后，她真的嫁给了他，成为这位拳击手的第四任妻子。穆罕默德最近被诊断出患有帕金森病，但这个诊断并没有困扰朗尼。“我认识的是这个人，不是名人，”她说，“那才是我爱的人。而且他知道我会永远支持他。”
很长一段时间，疾病几乎没有让他慢下来。朗尼更像是一个护理伙伴而非看护者，提醒他吃药。但渐渐地，症状变得更加明显。大约15年前在波士顿的一次晚餐是一个转折点。“穆罕默德要把食物放进嘴里时，他僵住了，”她回忆道——这是帕金森病典型的暂时性运动不能。另一个转折点是这位以活泼著称的拳击手变得面无表情。“那时我知道我面临一些需要应对和了解的挑战，”朗尼说。
挑战涉及实际生活、情感和心理层面。朗尼不得不认识到自己的极限。有一次，她忙于照顾穆罕默德、抚养儿子和经营生意，感到注意力无法集中，以为自己患了注意力缺陷障碍。“我去看医生，在候诊室睡着了，”她说，“医生说，‘你不是ADD，你是睡眠不足。’”
她也学会了接受无法控制的事情。穆罕默德每天锻炼，仍然肌肉发达，但现在走路蹒跚。曾经以妙语连珠闻名的他，常常沉默地坐着。“我和他在一起太久了，基本上看着他就知道他要什么，”朗尼说。
然而，疾病能夺走的毕竟有限。与帕金森病斗争了四分之一个世纪，穆罕默德正在上钢琴课。最重要的是，这位终身的人道主义支持者仍然觉得自己有帮助他人的使命。患病初期，他回避公众视线。“他过去常在镜头前表现，但镜头不再是他的朋友了，”朗尼说。与同样患有帕金森病的迈克尔·J·福克斯同台改变了他。“我想他认为，如果迈克尔能做到，我也能做到。”
现在，穆罕默德·阿里不在乎别人怎么看他。今年早些时候，他在为美国国家公共电台“这是我的信仰”栏目撰写的文章中，写到在1996年亚特兰大奥运会上传递火炬点燃主火炬时，意识到自己的震颤发作了。“我听到体育场里一阵低沉的隆隆声，变成震耳欲聋的咆哮，然后化为雷鸣般的掌声，”他写道。他那时明白了，帕金森病并没有击败他。
“我仍然有很多要向他学习，”朗尼·阿里说，“穆罕默德曾是力量与美的化身，但有身体障碍的人真的能与他产生共鸣吗？可能不会。但现在他们可以认同他。我们过去常收到帕金森病患者的来信，他们不愿出门，但因为看到穆罕默德外出，现在他们也出去了。
“他仍然拥有那种激励人心的力量——甚至无需开口。”