Judy is enjoying her midlife years. She has been in a wheelchair since contracting polio at the age of 8. Recently, she fought off a life-threatening illness and had to face her mother's death while still hospitalized in intensive care. In between, she has had a fairly normal life with highs and lows, full of love. She is an amazingly centered person.

Both of these women love life. Both exhibit an unusual strength of spirit that motivates most of the people blessed enough to be part of their inner circle of family and friends. Judy and Sarah are also willing to share what they have learned with complete strangers. It takes some coaxing to bring their lights out from under their respective bushels, for neither have those big egos many of us find difficult to stomach at times. The messages they impart may come quietly, by mere example or actively through outreach efforts, public speaking appearances and volunteer work.

An insightful writer from a very young age, Sarah Dudley is in the midst of compiling her poetry, prose, drawings and paintings into a book that may not be published before she passes on. That doesn't seem to bother her, for she knows her family will carry out her wishes to teach others by sharing her journey and the insights she has picked up along the way. “I hope that people who read this will understand my concept of living the 'now' and being in the moment,” she says.

The aphasia Sarah is experiencing now as a result of the tumor growth impacts her ability to speak clearly at times, which can be frustrating. She admits to having bad days, but mostly she is filled with a peace that transcends the mundane day-to-day activities. She studies the teachings of the Dalai Lama and the poets Basho and Thich Nhat Hanh. This remarkable young person also projects the wisdom of a wise old sage when she speaks calmly of a vision she experienced while undergoing surgery for her brain tumor.

In 1998, Dudley was in the midst of a ten-hour surgery, still awake so surgeons could test her reactions as they removed the brain tumor. As they were probing, she would be asked to identify pictures on flash cards. At one point, they showed Sarah a picture of a house and she said “casa” and the next words also followed in Spanish. She could not speak English. “As the operation continued, I lost all of my words,” she notes. “It was completely peaceful for me, but I could see the nurse's eyes and they were scared. The people were running around, getting so frantic and terrified as I coded,” she remembers.

“There was a blue light coming out of my chest and I was trying to speak to them but not on their level. It was like trying to communicate in some way that humans do not understand. I remember floating, sort of caught between two worlds. My body was still on the table and I was trying to talk but I also could not understand what they were saying. It was like dogs barking, just sounds. They revived me and for a period of time when I woke up I still did not have any words. I could see people's auras and colors that represented different people but could only think in concepts. Everything was flowing right through me, rapidly and I felt like I understood the whole universe,” she explains.

That's when she visualized an image, a center point of “now.” With that concept came joy, enlightenment and peace. Dudley describes it simply: Draw a + (plus sign) or a set of crossed lines on a piece of paper. Where it crosses in the middle is a center point of peace, infinity and love. “It is our origin, birth, death and some may say God is there,” she says softly. “That's the 'now.' Then there are the four outward points of past, future, fight and apathy.” During our lives, we move from point to point or sometimes get stuck thinking only of the future, or of the past. Sarah says everyone lives somewhere on this cross she envisions. “The point is to always try to come back to the center, where you are full of life and love.” Those are the words Dudley uses to try to describe her vision, but she stresses that in the center, there are no words. “Words slow you down too much,” she notes. “In that moment there is only silence and peace.”

Dudley is not only journaling her experiences, but sharing them in public speaking engagements with groups such as second year medical students at U of M, hoping to give them a better understanding of what it is like to be a patient. For holistic medicine classes at WMU, Dudley is able to be less clinical and express her concepts of life and “being in the moment.” She says, “I really don't talk about the peace that comes with an illness like mine to doctors or surgeons-to-be. They're at a different place than the holistic students. I try to ask myself what I can give to each particular group. The best thing I can do is to be an example.” Loving and giving. A teacher of 'now.' That's Sarah.

Judy Richards really doesn't want anyone to apply the word “inspirational” to her presence on the planet. She doesn't actively seek out that role in her life. She thinks she is just an ordinary gal who has faced a few bumps along the road of life. The owner of a successful business, Executive Suites & Services, Inc., Richards enjoys the flexibility of being her own boss and setting her own work schedule and challenges. It's a result of fierce independence fostered by her family.

“I was fortunate to have great parents who gave me lots of love and opened many doors for me,” she says, using the figurative, not literal reference to her wheelchair status. “It was not the law to mainstream handicapped children when I was young, but they did that in Sturgis, thanks to my parents. In the early 1960's, I attended Ferris State, which was the only college in Michigan that had full wheelchair accessibility then.” Richards may have gathered much of her inner core of strength from that “can-do” attitude and rarely being coddled by her parents or those around her. “I always wanted to be a wallflower, but when you are in a wheelchair, you are more memorable. You just stand out and can't blend in.”

For the past four years, Judy Richards was the primary caregiver for her 84-year-old mother, who lived with her while recuperating from a debilitating stroke.

“One of the therapies we were involved in was the Charles Van Riper Speech Clinic at WMU,” she remembers. “Mom received both individual and group therapy for her aphasia and learned ways to communicate without words. I found this program not only a benefit to my mother, but for me. The supervisors of the clinic and the other caregivers provided support for me as well.”

In November of 2003, Judy fell ill herself. A major bronchial infection prompted a two-week hospital stay, during which time her mother died. Her sister flew in from Houston and stayed for two months to nurse Judy back to health. Friends, some of whom came from Ohio and Nevada to take “healing shifts,” also surrounded her. “I was awed by the support and love I received while recovering,” she says.

“I believe what you project you will receive in kind. If you project caring and love, it comes back to you,” Judy Richards states. She is also a firm believer in the 12 Principles of Attitudinal Healing by Dr. Jerry Jampolsky from the book “A Course in Miracles.” Those principles include:

• The essence of our being is love.
• Health is inner peace.
• Healing is letting go of fear.
• Giving and receiving are the same.
• Now is the only time there is and each instant is for giving.
• We are students and teachers to each other.

Richards was an active volunteer, member of the board of directors and board president for the Attitudinal Healing Center of Kalamazoo for several years. “I have taught AH workshops and trainings outlining the principles and facilitated support groups based on the concept,” she says. Judy also encourages others to explore this focus on inner strength by contacting the local center at 269-372-1101 or via www.attitudinalhealing.org.

“Surviving polio was a major miracle. I think all of my successes in life have been miraculous, especially surviving this last illness. I've always been very aware of the world changing around me, but my strength seems to come from within and it began early on. Sometimes things just fall into place when you don't try to push. Then you know it was meant to be.”

Her advice to help others lead fulfilling lives? Simple. Reach out. Widen your circle. “Just extend your hand,” she says. “Even if you have only one good friend, think of how fortunate you are. What you project into the world will eventually return to you.” A teacher of loving, giving and gracious receiving. That's Judy. (Sarah Dudley died on May 8, 2004 at age 25.)