Be the best you can be with what's given to you

August 31, 2010

" Be the best you can be with what's given to you. " It seems so simple. But

it's not just empty words for Neuenschwander. It's the way he lives his

life.

He says " It's easy for people around you sometimes to say, oh you have an excuse

for not doing this or that. We can all come up with excuses why we can't do

things. "

has a form of muscular dystrophy called Charcot-Marie Tooth--or CMT. He's

had it all his life. Over time, CMT causes the muscles in the arms and the legs

to atrophy. But that won't stop him.

From the moment he started his job as a financial advisor at , he

had to do figure out how to get the job done his own way. " Instead of walking

up to doors, I would do that from a scooter or from a wheelchair, " says,

" Ringing a bell with a couple steps in front of the door, I had a little stick

that I would ring the bell. By the time people would come to the door, I'd have

the stick put away and they'd look at me a little bit like, wait a minute, how

did you ring my bell? "

For the rare moments when he is struggling---a few words of encouragement from

his wife keep him going. says they've been figuring things out for

32 years, now. " He's such a great listener, " she says, " and I think he has a

sensitivity that, maybe that, some others don't have. "

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