AmericanMudlark

AmericanMudlark Grace Barrett here! I'm a mudlark/explorer in Virginia. I find old treasures & give them a 2nd life.

08/28/2026

It’s not much but it’s for Dolly. We’re all missing you so much. 💖

Accept. Adapt. Keep the faith. I’m still at it. Roughly 6 months out now from when I was hospitalized and became acutely...
08/25/2026

Accept. Adapt. Keep the faith.

I’m still at it. Roughly 6 months out now from when I was hospitalized and became acutely acquainted with Multiple Sclerosis. Treatment is going well.
Healing is slow. And, honestly, it doesn’t really feel like healing.
It feels more like changing.
My reality is changing. My body is changing.
My eyesight is still double, but there’s some evidence that it’s changing.
Change. It is what I make it.
And I am making it. I’ve had two weeks of strong body days. I’ll take it.
I was finally able to finish a book a week ago. Since then, I’ve read 3 books. The words on the page aren’t blurring together anymore and I’m not getting crippling headaches from reading.
Reading makes me feel like myself, like I can look in the mirror and recognize that I’m going to be ok.

All in all, I’m just thankful every day for love and sunshine and that I can put one foot in front of the other. I feel now that I have solid earth under my feet and a path forward.

🧡 AmericanMudlark

08/02/2026

What a pleasant surprise!
I came face to face with this little guy while walking in the woods yesterday. I backed away from him, didn’t want to disturb. And we both went on our way.
Little joys 💙🦌

Before MS….It’s hard to know when exactly it began. But it’s very clear to me when it WASN’T a part of my life. Before m...
07/31/2026

Before MS….

It’s hard to know when exactly it began.
But it’s very clear to me when it WASN’T a part of my life. Before multiple sclerosis, I could spend all day in the sunshine, I could hike for miles, I could even swim for miles, I could push myself harder and go further, and I could explore the limits of my strength and endurance.
That exploration was a huge deal for me.
At one point, I was 269 lbs and my body limited me. I lost half my body weight and now maintain at 135 lbs. Taking my body back and then pushing my limits was one of the best choices I ever made for my future and my health.

I cannot imagine how much harder this journey would be with Multiple Sclerosis if I was still at that weight. It’s like my body knew I had to get stronger because my biggest and hardest battle was still to come. At one point, I thought losing the weight would my most difficult fight with myself. But it wasn’t. Far far from it.

It’s this. It’s MS. This is my war.

It’s the weakness, the unpredictability, the heat intolerance, the imbalance, the vision problems, and the absolute exhaustion that never seems to leave me. It’s this thing that is going to be apart of me for the rest of my life, unless a cure is found in my lifetime. The permanence of it is hard to wrap my mind around sometimes.

I’ll rest when I need to, learn how to adapt, and I’ll be careful.
Because I’m not going to surrender.
I’m going to test my new limits, I’m going to create new goals, and I’m going to continue to build on the solid foundation of who I know I am.
I’ll never ever give up the battle for my body.

Accept. Adapt. Keep the faith.

🧡AmericanMudlark

07/30/2026

Looking through my phone there’s so much I haven’t posted. With my health not being the best as of late, I still want to share. So I’m going keep digging through the archives. There’s much to see!

💙 AmericanMudlark

07/27/2026

My sweet sweet Nessie girl. In every way a dog can save a person, she saved me again and again. 🩷🩷🩷

Ooo what’s this??👀With my recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, I’ve been finding a new normal, a new rhythm. There’s ...
07/26/2026

Ooo what’s this??👀

With my recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, I’ve been finding a new normal, a new rhythm. There’s been a great deal of testing of the waters when it comes to my physical limits. And there are new challenges. Namely, my eyesight, energy levels, balance and this new extreme sensitivity to heat…are the things I’m working with.

But look! Look! I can still find treasure. Just recently, I pulled this from the James River in Virginia. I find porcelain, stoneware, and china all the time. The real gems are when I find something with a backstamp.
And lo and behold, this little bit had something on the back. With some research and educated guesswork, I identified as an early piece of Johnson Brothers china. The Johnson Brothers are a longstanding English maker dating back all the way to its founding in 1883. They were a major exporter to the United States and ultimately stopped production in 2015.

The Johnson Brothers were one of the most successful tableware producers out of the Staffordshie potteries. The ceramic history of Staffordshire holds a special interest for me. On my mother’s side, Staffordshire is where a lot of our family comes from. So to find a tiny bit of something with a connection to that area, well, it’s the cherry on top of an extra special treat.

And it gives me hope! So much hope.
Because even though some things are harder than they were before, it doesn’t mean that I’m giving up.
I can still find joy and I can certainly still find my treasures.

💙AmericanMudlark

BREAKING RADIO SILENCE 😉 Hey folks! I’m so sorry that I’ve basically disappeared for months. There’s a reason. Since the...
07/22/2026

BREAKING RADIO SILENCE 😉

Hey folks! I’m so sorry that I’ve basically disappeared for months. There’s a reason. Since the middle of February, my life has taken a turner for the better, but also the worst, and definitely for the weird lol. Sometimes the worst things happen during the best times of our lives. And I firmly believe that goodness acts as a cushion for those very hard times.

After my vision went double very suddenly in February, I was hospitalized for almost a week.
Test after test was done, including a lumbar puncture (big ouch) and I was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. It requires aggressive treatment. Thankfully the treatment will prevent future MS damage. It won’t fix the damage already done, but it will basically stop the progression.
So I’m beyond thankful for this treatment.
The tradeoff for it, however, is my immune system.
But it’s ok! Because I can adapt and am adapting.

MS was something I never could have guessed would be a part of my life.
I never saw myself ever becoming immunocompromised.
I never saw myself fighting for my vision.
I never saw myself needing mobility tools (from time to time) because my balance is unpredictable and the right side of my body is weak.

So some things are harder, things I love so much.
I can still explore, kayak, swim, and search for treasure. But it is much harder. And I have to take a lot of factors into account, like my exhaustion/vision/balance/weakness problems. I just have to choose how I spend my energy.

All I know is that MS won’t win. I won’t let it. A couple of days ago, I was in NYC and walked 13,000+ steps on one of those days. That’s a win in my book.

Yes, some days are harder than others.
However, the scale is starting to tip.
Because now I’m having more good days than bad days. And while the double vision is still a mess, it is still slowly improving.

My story is far far from over!
It’s only just beginning.
And I’m absolutely sure my best adventures are still to come.

Accept. Adapt. Keep the faith.
And stay curious!

💙 AmericanMudlark

Perspective is a powerful thing. Here’s one of the pictures of earth taken by the Artemis II. I saw a random comment tha...
04/11/2026

Perspective is a powerful thing.
Here’s one of the pictures of earth taken by the Artemis II. I saw a random comment that referenced this photo as a “family picture.”
I’ve not been able to stop thinking about that perspective. To be honest, I shed some tears at the thought. We’re all in this together, whether with like it or not.
“Family picture.”
It’s a heavy thing. Beautiful, sad.
And achingly hopeful.

And cheers to the crew, such brave curious people.
Welcome home, it’s a mess. But it’s ours and it’s beautiful. It’s the only home we’ve got in the wide expanse of space. You’ve reminded me to cherish it.

🌎 🚀 🌕 🚀 🌎

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