Emily Stewart Myers

Emily Myers overcame many challenges in her life but succumbed quickly to a viral infection in the early hours of the morning on Saturday December 12, 2020 at the age of 34. She spent her final hours at home, where she always felt happy and comfortable.

Emily was born May 8 1986 in Minneapolis Minnesota with myotonic muscular dystrophy, a chronic muscle wasting disease. Immediately after she was born her parents brought her to Michigan where she lived the remainder of her life. Emily struggled with the muscular dystrophy her entire life but always maintained a positive attitude and an amazing ability to find happiness no matter what life threw at her. She lived with her parents Robert Myers and Julie Lyons who took care of her for 34 years.

Above all, Emily loved everything Disney. The Magic Kingdom was her favorite place in the world. Her bedroom walls were adorned with Disney princess posters installed by her uncle Andy with her dad “helping” (mainly by getting in the way). When younger, she was able to make annual trips to the Magic Kingdom where she would interrogate Disney characters about their poor choices and questionable motives. Her greatest hope was that she would be able to be there for her nephew Will’s first Disney trip to show him the ropes and share in his joy. Unfortunately, she was not able to achieve that dream.

She loved kids and volunteered for a short time at a pre-school until it became too unsafe for her. She loved the kids and they loved her. Emily had a sweetness and innocence about her that most people struggle to hold on to as they battle life’s responsibilities and challenges.

Emily enjoyed going to muscular dystrophy camp for a week every summer. It gave her a chance to be with other disabled kids and spend a week just having fun and doing the things normal kids do at camp. She met many friends there and the councilors were fantastic to her and all of the other kids. She especially loved the prom, and the suspense of waiting to see which boy would ask her to go that year.

Emily’s extended family are Australian and when she was younger and more mobile, she was able to visit them on several occasions. Those trips were very special to her and her Australian family always treated her with kindness and patience. Her favorite thing on those trips was to play euchre with the family. We could never figure out why she loved to partner with her cousin Chris, demonstrably the worst euchre player in the family (but perhaps the best looking).

She was fortunate enough to have another extended family in America. The Hanson family treated her as one of their own, always including her and always treating her with love and patience. Her second dad Steve teased her relentlessly, but she was always asking when he would be back in to see her. Danielle and Sara were her best friends. She loved their visits and phone calls, where she could talk and play some of her board games. Their extraordinary patience and love provided Emily with friendship, companionship, and some degree of normalcy in her life. Her American extended family enriched Emily’s life in ways they probably don’t even realize.

Despite her challenges with mobility, Emily loved boating and salmon fishing on Lake Michigan. She loved going for boat rides and, despite struggling to bring in fish herself, became very knowledgeable about how to catch them and how to work them in. She delighted in having novice anglers onboard so she could explain everything they were doing wrong (“don’t horse it!”) and get them on the right track.

Emily had a great love of movies and, pre-covid, was a regular visitor to movie theaters. She would eat half her body weight in popcorn and enjoy the latest Disney movie she had been waiting for. There was always a quiz for her companions on the way home about what they liked and did not like about the movie.

A year ago, Emily suffered complications from a surgery and spent a couple of months on a ventilator and in a nursing home. This was a very difficult time for her and she would not have survived without a lot of support. Both Emily and her parents will never forget the generosity of our friends and both extended families during that period, especially her Uncle Andy and Aunt Rhonda who put their own lives on hold back in Australia and came to help. From that point on, Emily was bedridden and required a lot of care. She had regular caregivers who not only took care of her needs, but became friends and companions. She loved their visits and she loved them. Cortney and Gineva will always have a special place in Emily’s heart, and will always be part of the Myers extended family.

Happy and comfortable at home again, Emily was adjusting well to her new life and situation. Then in a cruel twist, she contracted a viral infection that threw her system into chaos. With her physical problems and weak immune system, she deteriorated quickly and survived just three days of symptoms before passing in the early hours of the morning on December 12. She was at home with her family when she passed, the place she always wanted to be. Her sister Jacqueline and parents Robert and Julie will always love and miss her.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.greastlansing.com for the Myers family.