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Support Group Nite

ALS Association meeting every third Wednesday night of the month is the port in the storm that is ALS. I've been attending these sanity-saving gatherings since my diagnosis in 2012.

Throughout the years I've been in these get togethers, meeting people with ALS, their families, and their caregivers, I fail to understand the PALS who don't tap into this valuable and free resource. .Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging. To each, their own. I just do not understand.

Oh, I understand the fear of the unknown. The fear of looking "the beast right in the eye".  If you're anything like me, you never knew what ALS was, let alone met somebody with ALS.  If you're anything like me, you never knew what ALS was, let alone met somebody with ALS. Or you associate ALS with Stephen Hawking and God knows, you don't look forward to looking like him! Sorry Stephen. I'm no prize anymore, either.

But, what I get is invaluable...Understanding. I get this in no other place. Access to resources. Needless to say, I've never had ALS before. So, why wouldn't I tap into a source of accumulated wisdom from people who have been there or are there? And, hope. Yes, hope! ALS may not have a cure but, members are the first to say, 'yet'. They are plugged into the latest intel on this horrendous disease; research, medical trials, and debunking myths and scams.

And maybe, just maybe, you'll make some beautiful friendships along the way. I found family and friends couldn't always handle the grim realities of the disease and pulled away. Sometimes, I only had fellow PALS and CALS to support me. This, I never would've guessed.


*PALS (People with ALS)
*CALS (Caregivers of people with ALS)

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Location: 2720 East Madison Street, Seattle, WA 98112, USA

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