Crystal

A petite red head, Crystal is all of five feet tall, no more than 98 pounds. She's a regular at Planet Fitness. She looks 14 but is 32. A married mother of an accomplished 13-year-old daughter who adds a sparkle to Crystal's eyes when she speaks of her. 

Crystal has MS, her muscles don't do what her brain tells them to. She came to PF about two years ago in a wheelchair, extremely overweight and unable to walk. She works out every day. Now, two years into it, she has lost 80 pounds and gets around with only the help of a cane. I often see her on one of the machines, eyes closed, not sleeping but rather, willing. Willing her muscles to relax, to end the horrifically painful body cramps that seize her without warning. She lives with pain every day and although in the long run, her determination and hard work at PF has transformed her, it is an unending struggle. Working out hurts more, much more, than sitting still, but it gets results over time. If she stopped, she would cramp up permanently and be a twisted mess in that wheelchair for the rest of her too short life. So she comes in for a daily dose of excruciating pain, every day, with a smile. 

Crystal never complains when we talk, but I see it when her eyes are closed, sitting alone at one of the workout stations as if in prayer, willing the body to relax and behave, willing the pain to take a back seat, just for now. 

Last week she was laboring along in front of me, wobbling slowly forward, her cane shaking with each step. An invisible switch was thrown, and she crumpled to the ground, a marionette whose strings were cut by an unseen evil. Rushing to her, a friend and I helped her up. She was all smiles as I lead her over to her next battlefield, a leg machine. It was a leg day for her. Helping her onto the machine and adjusting it to fit her tiny frame, she spoke of her daughter with pride, she spoke of having to finish up soon to meet her husband who was coming to pick her up, she didn't say a word about her fall. 

Walking away, as I looked back, Crystal was sitting still, eyes closed, the sweat on her forehead glistening under the harsh florescent lights, willing...