LEWISTON – Grace Banks understands when her godmother, Vickie Gould, has to stop sledding because she’s too tired. She knows what’s happening when Gould’s memory fails her, when she falls while walking. She worries about Gould’s eyesight, fearing one day her friend, her “Naunny,” will go blind.

Grace, 8, doesn’t have multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system. But she’s lived in the shadow of MS her whole life.

And she’s been fundraising for a cure just as long.

“I want to help her,” she said, nestling into Gould’s lap at the kitchen table.

Over the years, Grace has helped raise thousands of dollars for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This year, the petite Montello Elementary School second-grader will be the youngest MS Walk co-captain in Maine.

“I want to help everyone with MS,” she said.

Gould, 42, still remembers the day she was diagnosed – June 4, 1999.

“You don’t forget these things,” she said.

Back pain led to doctors, which led to tests, which led to specialists. Gould denied her diagnosis – relapsing-remitting MS – in the beginning. Then her symptoms, which range from weakness to memory loss, worsened.

Gould went online to educate herself about the disease. What she found there terrified her.

“Of course I read all the worst-case things first,” she said. “I went online was just devastated when I found out all the things that could happen.”

Her worst fear: ending up in a wheelchair.

Gould’s best friend, Amy Banks, was pregnant with her first child – Grace – when Gould got the diagnosis. Banks tried to keep the mood light.

“She said she ordered me without MSG,” Gould recalled with a laugh. “I said too bad. You got me with it.”

But Banks got serious, too.

“She’s like ‘We’ve got to do the walk, and we’ve got to do this and anything that’s going on with MS we’re doing. We’ve got to stick our face right in there. Let’s find out more about this,'” Gould said.

The best friends did their first MS walk in April 2000. They named their small team “Grace’s Gang” in the newborn’s honor.

Grace was too young and the weather was too wet for her to participate that first year, but she joined after that, riding along the route in a stroller or a wagon like the other children of walkers. By the time she was 4 years old, she was walking the five miles on her own.

She’s done it every year since.

“Sometimes I run ahead of Mom,” she said.

The team changed its name to “Walking with Grace,” both in honor of Grace and as a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment that Gould’s MS means she sometimes isn’t graceful.

Teamwork

This year, Walking with Grace has 17 members. Grace and Gould were made team co-captains.

“As she grows up, she has more say in it,” Banks said.

The team has raised about $10,000 for MS research since it started. Last year, it raised over $2,700, making it one of the top fund-raisers of the 45 teams in Androscoggin County.

This year, Grace has taken some of the fundraising into her own hands. She brings $6 stuffed animals to school to sell to teachers and others. She gets her own donations and pledges for the walk.

The team’s goal is to raise $5,000. Grace’s personal goal is $500.

“Because it has the same numbers as $5,000,” she said.

So far, Grace has raised $329, a figure she’s proud of. When Gould pointed out that Grace has so far raised more money than she has, Grace flashed a gap-toothed grin and whispered “lots more.”

This year’s walk will be held April 12 and will start at 9 a.m. at Lewiston High School. Hundreds of walkers and volunteers are expected to attend.

To raise extra money, Walking with Grace will also raffle off a homemade quilt at the event. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5.

Nearly nine years after her diagnosis, Gould has good days and bad days. She gets weak sometimes, tired sometimes. But Grace, who is so close to Gould that she calls her “Naunny” and has her own bedroom at Gould’s house, doesn’t let her get down for long.

“She keeps me going,” Gould said.

FMI on the MS Walk visit: www.msmaine.org

FMI about Walking with Grace, to join the team, to make a donation to the MS Society or to buy a raffle ticket or stuffed animal, call Vickie Gould at 782-0362 or e-mail [email protected]

What: MS Walk to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society

When: April 12, 9 a.m. (Registration at 8 a.m.)

Where: Lewiston High School

Walkers or teams of walkers can register the day of the event or by going to www.msmaine.org