My dear friend and tuba teacher Simon Smith has recently been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a progressive disease in which a person’s brain looses connection with muscles, slowly taking away their ability to walk, talk, eat and eventually breathe. There is still no cure or treatment that halts progression.

Simon is 33 and needs financial help. I hope you’ll consider making a donation to help Simon and his wife pay bills that are continually backing up. He’s unable to work because of ALS, and his wife is his caretaker.

My much-loved wife died from the effects of ALS two years after being diagnosed. I know full well the financial burdens as well as the emotional toll that comes with this horrific and incurable disease. Typically, medical expenses alone can exceed $250,000 annually. Simon has MaineCare to help with those expenses; but that does not cover food, rent, utilities, trips to Mass General in Boston, and so on.

No one can better describe this situation than Simon’s wife, Tennessee:

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Many of you know Simon as a musician, music teacher, and conductor. In late 2025, Simon noticed conducting was becoming harder. His right shoulder was weak. We thought it was a pinched nerve, but doctors were having trouble locating where the weakness was originating. In November, Simon received an EMG and we were told he had ALS, a terminal disease that doctors overlooked because of Simon’s young age. He is only thirty-three. The average age upon disease onset is 50-70. We were told he could have anywhere from 2 to 5 years, on average, to live. There is no cure and there are very few treatments to slow progression. So, there it is. Simon has a rare neurological disease at a rare age to get one. 

Simon and I have been married for three years. We have spent the bulk of our marriage trying to set ourselves up for a future we will not have. We got married a month after I started college. While I was studying and working at school, Simon was growing his private music lessons. We both believed if we worked hard enough, we would be in a much better place. We made big plans. We wanted a house, children, a dog, and a cat. But life interrupts. Simon has had to revise his schedule because ALS is weakening his fine motor skills and he becomes fatigued quite easily. I am not set to graduate until the end of this summer. This puts us in a hard place to even make rent and buy food, let alone drive to Boston for Simon’s appointment and to pay the medical expenses not covered by insurance. 

Many of you have asked what you can do to help us and we are grateful for the offer alone. If you would like to donate, we’re here to ask humbly for help. Donations will go toward rent, medical expenses, groceries, physical therapy, utilities, and gas to get to Simon to appointments. 

Simon is the best man I have ever known. He is deeply kind. He loves imparting his knowledge and the love of music to others no matter their ability to pay him. He has kept his rates low and worked longer hours to ensure that regular people could afford music lessons. I am grateful to be his wife for as long as I get to be. ALS has not dulled an ounce of his spirit.

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Please consider donating. If you feel moved to help, a donation or even simply sharing this page can truly make a difference for Simon and Tennessee right now.