Closer Than Family?

There exists a bond between people who have shared experiences that is quite like no other.  For example, parents who have lost a child.  I wouldn’t be able to comfort those people in any extraordinary way. But a Mama or Daddy that HAS lost a child can feel a very close, very special bond.  Closer than even their blood relatives.

The same could be said for women whose husbands have prematurely died, or vice versa.  Or for folks who’ve lost someone to a disease.  There’s just a “knowing” that goes on.  You don’t have to try hard to explain.  It’s a fellowship unlike any other.

I have “friends” on the internet that I’ve never met in person, or even talked with on the phone.  But because we share a diagnosis, Myasthenia Gravis, we are kindred spirits.  The same can be said of their families. If one of my MG folks has a mother, father, child, sister, whomever, that needs prayer, we pray.

Right now we are praying for my friend Cyndi.  Her husband Joe passed away a few years ago from Myasthenia Gravis.  I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Joe, but I met Cyndi very shortly thereafter.  She was wondering if she should leave one of the support groups she had been in because of Joe, and everyone had this resounding reply:  No!

Cyndi is in the hospital with meningitis and MRSA.  She has been on a vent for a week.  If you are of a like mind, would you please add her to your prayers?

I mentioned support groups…I have several on Facebook, and they are my lifelines.  Truly.  To just be able to say three or four words and have 100 other people say, “Oh how I understand!” and you know they DO because they either have, or are, walking in your shoes.

The best-meaning friend, family member or spouse cannot truly fathom having Myasthenia Gravis.  That doesn’t mean they don’t try.  That doesn’t mean that they don’t love us like crazy.  They DO.  They just can’t 100% “get it.”

They may be closer to understanding if they themselves have a different chronic illness, but it’s never 100%.  I have had the pleasure of meeting several of my Facebook friends.  And let me tell you… I have felt, in almost every single instance, like I had known these people for my entire life. For example, on our way out to North Carolina last year, we stopped at my friend Dar’s house.  She and her husband Terry have been Facebook friends on mine for years.  Dar has MG like me.  We had *never* met them, and yet we stayed overnight at their house.  It was like seeing long-lost friends that we hadn’t seen in ages. We even changed our plans for the following day so we could hang out longer with Dar. You can’t fake that.  You can’t BUY that.

So when people say, “they’re only your friend on Facebook…it’s not real…” I HIGHLY beg to differ.  These people are TRUE friends.  They are MORE than real.  I love them all so much.  When one of us is struggling, those of us who aren’t rally around that family more than our own.

It’s not that I don’t love my family.  Of course I do.  Having a life-altering illness in common, however, is a very strong, immediate bond.  And like MG (unless there’s a cure) that bond is for life.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.  For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!  Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?  And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Even More Random Letters

Dear Facebook,

When I add several pictures at once, as your new set-up encourages, inevitably one or two get "eaten."  Who or what is taking my pictures?  It's like the sock monster in the dryer.  You KNOW you put even pairs in, and you come out with one extra sock.  Well, in this case, I don't end up with one extra anything...it just disappears.  Where do they go?  Oh, and if you happen to know the sock monster, maybe you could tell him (or her) that I would like a word.

Sincerely,
Confused Photographer



Dear Brain,

You can come back whenever you feel like it.  Truly.  I'm not sure where you went, or why, but I miss you, and would enjoy not feeling like an imbecile half the time.  I can't remember my name half the time.  So please, come back....

Sincerely,
Ker......?



Dear Mr. President,

I have very few words I can use to write to you since my mother now has facebook and reads my blog.  However, I would like to point out that some of your spending cuts are pretty darn stupid.  My nephew, a member of the Armed Special Forces, recently spent over a week, most of it in GERMANY, waiting on his airplane, which was down for "mechanical" reasons.  He had just returned from Afghanistan, covering YOUR ass as well as the rest of the country's, has a wife, a 2 year old and a 2 month old baby at home waiting on him, and he's stuck in Germany waiting on a ride home. 

REALLY???

Then, his unit hitched a ride with another unit who had also been waiting, but they went to Maine.  My nephew doesn't live in Maine, he lives in Georgia.  Now in case you are geographically challenged, these two places are approximately 1500 miles apart. 

My niece wanted to buy a civilian plane ticket to get her husband home from Germany, but apparently that's against "regulations."

Either way, it is because of YOUR loathsome attitude toward the United States military that a group of young servicemen were kept away from their families far longer then necessary after protecting YOU and serving in the Middle East.

Maybe you should have held a special press conference with military personnel on stage with you, waving to their families while you said that the most important thing is to protect our military...And that you would do anything to get them home where they belong... After all, you are a terrific dog and pony show-er. Would have been a great PR gig.

They take an oath, you know.  Maybe YOU should have taken something similar.  They "do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  So help me God."

Maybe yours should have read: "I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against tyrannical despots like myself, and that I will bear true faith and and allegiance to the United States.  That I will obey and support the Constitution of the United States, BY the PEOPLE, FOR the PEOPLE, so help me God."

Sincerely,
Someone Who Cannot WAIT Four More Years!

Feeling Like Toast

On my facebook status: "Dear Lord, Please take me out of the fire. I'm done."
Second status: "According to WebMD, my symptoms mean I died 3 years ago."

Yup. I'm sick. Well, on top of my normal daily joy, I've contacted a cold. I feel awful. Waiting for my darling hubby to bring lunch home and I will go back to bed.

Now we see what happens to people without immune systems when they get sick. Here's hoping it's not THAT bad.