Seemed like just for a while, TM was out of the picture, if that's at all possible. You know what? It's ok to smile, laugh and even have a good time in spite of our living with a traumatic, life-changing disease. It's ok to have a good time...and you are right, Regina...we did learn some personal things about a few of us and that made for some uncommon, generally reserved for private email between two persons. But for once, it was all right. But, really, we are here to exchange information regarding our battles with TM and to learn what works for one might work for another...then again, maybe not. Where would we be, where would we go, without this Transverse Myelitis Support Group? Who else, but others with the same disease, can understand, or even truly care what we go through on a daily basis? Certainly not strangers, not even close friends sometimes, and believe it or not...not even our families can get a grasp on what it's like to live in a body that refuses to respond the way it used to; the way it is supposed to. We need one another and we need to hold on tightly to every address on our TM Buddy List. I personally believe that our lives are made richer by knowing one another. What were we like before TM came to live in our bodies and minds? We don't need to "get down dirty" with all of the details of our lives, past and present, but I think that getting our minds off of the pain, pressure sores, urinary tract infections, numbness, blah, blah, blah...helps to lift us out of ourselves and even out of our depression a little bit. I think it has enriched my desolate life by knowing that there are writers, doctors, nurses, dancers, teachers, hairstylists and lawyers among us. Personally, I am going through a major depression that has to do with how I define myself now that I do nothing all day, every day. It's like I'm not a person any longer. I don't contribute anything to society, I have no goals to spur me on to become a better person; to make me an interesting person, not one stuck on one topic that occupies my every thought. Does anyone else out there feel that way about themselves? Is it a phase? A part of the "loss" psychology of having to find for oneself a place to fit in to this wonderful, wacky world...? Someone please tell me... I love you all and would not, in all honestly, make it through one day without each and every one of you. Peace and Prayers, Jude/Judy/Judith/ Judith Gail, when my mother wanted to get my attention!
"Our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great Glory that will last forever" 2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT ************************************** Get a sneak peak of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
