The MS Meeting, Chapter 4

So the woman I told you about in my last blog came to pick me up and I went to the meeting with her to learn about MS. Once I got there I found myself standing alone and didn’t even see the lady who brought me. A few minutes later the group leader announced that it was time to go into the big conference room, so I just followed the crowd and sat down. As I looked around I noticed how we looked like a group ready to watch a movie…I felt kind of odd to say the least. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see this nice looking young woman say “It’s ok, really!“ so I just smiled and said thank you.

The leader went to the front and read the minutes from the last meeting, addressed new topics we might be interested in, and thanked any new people who came. He then started to talk about the topic of the evening and asked for any questions or comments. After that we broke into about 5 smaller groups of around 8 people or so to talk about the topic of the night, greet any new members and/or talk about anything else MS related. As it happened we had 2 new members, myself and one very tall distinguished looking man.

Well right off they wanted me talk about myself some and shy me made fast work of that. The young woman that was in this group just patted my knee and said, “You did fine!” Then this man stood up and talked the rest of our time. He was a CEO of a big company, was married with a family and had goals to  conquer. But he had lost it all due to MS and he was devastated. He then passed around pictures of his kids; we all felt so sad for him. He was very intelligent and had a way about him that commanded attention.  He also had quite a sense of humor and he loved talking in front of people.

After the meeting this young woman came up to me and said “You look like someone I would like to be with friends with.” Then she gave me a piece of paper with her phone number and name and said to call her.  I thanked her and she said “Please do…call like tomorrow?” and I assured her I would.

So I called her the next day and we both were surprised that she lived just half a block away from me…what were the odds of that? We talked for some time on the phone and found we had much in common despite our age difference and having MS. She was very mature for her age. She lived at home, and didn’t drive or work due to having MS.

What transpired for the next 10 years was a lovely friendship and we did lots of things together that were not MS related at all…and that included her getting married. Marriage was something she thought MS had taken away but it didn’t. She did move away after that and eventually we lost contact with each other. I know she went thru some heart aches BUT she got a taste of life’s up’s and downs just like anyone without MS gets anyway. We both learned a lot from each other, which was another good thing that came out of having MS.

Next Blog: The impact that tall distinguished man had on my life and MS and the doors that opened! HINT my shyness had to take a vacation because I was asked to journey down another path that I never saw coming…MS can be surprising in good ways.

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