Most of you out there with Lyme disease, or who have heard me complain through the last year of my own Lyme disease are probably thinking “is he having a stroke, or did he really just say that?” No, I am not having a stroke. But I am having a stroke of genius. Okay, not so much genius as at least an idea.
Alyssa Knapp of Food For Lyme wrote an amazing piece tonight on the end of Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Part of what has been mentioned in the comments to that article is how many new friends we’ve made through this Lyme awareness campaign.
As much as I hate my Lyme disease, I can’t imagine my life without some of the people that have entered it through the Lyme disease portal. I never would have been able to meet so many people from all over the world, let alone half the people in my own neighborhood that I’ve met through this campaign.
And let me tell you, there are some pretty damn amazing people that have worked hard on this campaign, and it is truly a blessing to know them, and to have worked with them. But more than that, the hundreds and thousands of people who have joined us in spreading awareness. Most I’ve never met in person, but I love them and depend on them as if they were friends for years. Part of this disease is isolation. You cannot begin to understand the isolation someone with Lyme disease feels. Especially without the support of their own family and friends. So to be able to come together as a group like this, and feel unending support and understanding of what we go through can be pretty powerful.
So yet another silver lining to the dark cloud that is Lyme disease. The wonderful people who become part of the community that help to brighten our often dark journeys.
Alyssa will be guest writing this weekend and including the post I referenced, so please be sure to come back and check it out. It will bring a tear to your eye and pride to your heart at all that we’ve been able to and how we’ve grown as a community.