Starbucks Success

Once more into the breech, dear friends, once more. Taking my sanity into my own hands, I ventured forth today, returning to the nightmare of Maple Grove's shopping insanity. Wisely, I brought back up, another MOONS group member who lives in Saint Paul. The sky loomed ominously of my car during the entire trip, but I had no fear. My gas tank was full and my faith high. We arrived at the Elm Creek Blvd Starbucks, knowing full well that it was THE ONLY one on that stretch of road. Almost immediately, we spotted friendly faces. Turns out, MOONS was having a planning meeting!

The afternoon was fantastic. We certainly got sidetracked at times, but people with narcolepsy should be allowed some latitude. Plus, it was wonderful to have only a handful of us with Dr. Rogers. She is wonderfully intelligent, and I can easily see why her patients in the group adore her. Often, a topic would come up, and Dr. Rogers was more than willing to share what she knew about that particular medication or treatment. Even more rewarding, though, was the collegiality among the MOONS member there. We can all see the potential of the group, and it felt awesome to lift some of the organizing weight from the shoulders of Dr. Rogers and Charlie. Those two have bent over backwards to get everything going. Now, some of us can provide assistance to help the group become even better.

Even though the next meeting is not until November 15, I am already excited. This group, along with the online resources that I have found, has been vital to my own acceptance of my narcolepsy. I feel such joy getting to know other people with narcolepsy. It is glorious. I feel blessed that I can have a chance to help others in the same way that I have been aided. I also know that my joy as stems from the reality that I will see some of my MOONS friends in less than a week. Milwaukee approaches rapidly, and I can not wait. We will theoretically have another MOONS planning meeting there because we will be doing some MOONS work at the hotel - making web site changes, working on the database, planning a group presentation for the next meeting. I love it!

I knew that today would be significantly better than my last trip to the madness of Maple Grove, but once again I am stunned by how incredible MOONS has left me. It truly is magical to be with a group of people who implicitly understand the bizarre frustrations of this disease. Nothing can compare to it. And to think, in less than a week, I will not be with a few other PWNs like I was today, or even the 30-40 PWNs that are at MOONS meetings. In Milwaukee, I will be with over 100 other people with narcolepsy. That boggles my mind!