http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/stamford/2001-10-14/article5.shtml
Sunday, October 14 2001
STAMFORD - Marva Llewellyn and Priscilla
Keitt walk in parallel lines in the chest-high water. Their gentle steps
cause a soft ripple in the calm, stained-glass reflection before them.
Keitt, not as comfortable as Llewellyn
in the water at this height, turns on her left toe to walk a straight line
back toward the shallow end. Looking over her shoulder, Llewellyn does
not hesitate to turn herself, to once again walk with her friend.
While the Stamford residents walk
side-by-side in a pool twice a week, the same analogy can be used in life.
The women have multiple sclerosis.
It brings them together for one hour twice a week in the pool at the Stamford
YMCA. They also run an MS awareness group, which meets monthly.
Both gatherings tend to suffer from
poor attendance.
"A lot of people put their MS in
the closet," said Keitt, who works at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in Stamford.
"It doesn't have to be that way."
Their friendship is evident to anyone
near them during their class last week. While Llewellyn, a mother of two,
might turn around to walk beside her friend, she'll also push her from
time to time.
"Come on Priscilla, I've already
been down there and back," she said as she paced slowly toward the end
of the pool, holding her arms out level with the water while holding a
pair of floating dumbbell-like objects.
"Maybe I can blame it on the water
being too hot," she said of the 83-degree pool, prompting a laugh from
Llewellyn and instructor Lorraine Zegibe.
"Don't talk, concentrate," Zegibe
tells Keitt to get her to focus on the exercise.
While Zegibe oversees Keitt and Llewellyn,
Connie Vacca helped her friend Hareesh Rawal do a series of exercises at
the edge of the pool.
As the class concludes, Vacca assisted
Rawal up the stairs into a wheelchair.
"It's a great group we have," Zegibe
said, drying off after the class. "It serves a purpose, to help with muscle
development and balance and things like that. But the social element is
the one that stands out to me. We have a good time here."
Last week, the group did not disband
after its Thursday class. After drying off and changing, the class headed
to a local restaurant to wish Rawal well. In a few days, he is to leave
for his annual trip to India.
Candito Fontanez recently joined
the class after moving to Stamford from Fairfield. A similar class there
was somewhat larger, he said. Though he enjoys the sessions, Fontanez said
he wishes others with MS would join the fun.
"When you get this disease, it tends
to be isolating," he said. "But when you're here, you can let loose. When
you get up in the morning, not feeling great, it may not be easy to get
up. But once you're here, you have a good time and you feel better later
for having exercised."
• • •
The class meets from 10 to 11 a.m.
at the Stamford YMCA. For more information, call 357-7000. For information
on the MS Support Group, call 921-1984 or 353-9708. The group meets the
final Friday of each month, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Stamford Government
Center. Family members are welcome.
© 1999-2000, Southern Connecticut
Newspaper, Inc
By Thomas J. McFeeley
Staff Writer