My name is Joyce Boothe, and I have had TM for almost 10 1/2 years. I had never met anyone else with this until I decided to begin a support/get together group in the state of Mississippi. My state does not have one, so it's hard for people with TM to find each other. I had no idea that three people lived in my immediate area, till I got the new TM directory. I'm sure there are more that don't know about The Transverse Myelitis Association or the TMIC.

When I received my new TM directory, I noticed there were several nearby. I had desperately wanted to find others that could understand my problems and me. I began to make a few calls, and we decided we didn't want to wait to meet. We set up a meeting for two week away, but it was on an iffy basis, because of different schedules, and trying to find a time convenient for most. I know it will never be convenient for everyone.

We decided to meet at the Cracker Barrel at 1:30 PM. We had planned to have only coffee and dessert, but we all ended up having something more than we had planned. At this meeting, we began by discussing how we began with TM. There were three of us there. Each had different degree of recovery, different ways of being diagnosed, but all three of us had to go to the hospital on the weekend. That was one common factor we all three shared.

We discussed our hopes and plans for the group, began a plan for recycling the ink cartridges, as well as some goals we hope to accomplish through this group. We touched on fundraisers, but still have a lot to learn before trying to tackle too many projects.

We all three went away with a different outlook, as none of us had ever met another person with TM. We plan to do an area get together every month and a support group meeting for the state three to four times a year. I encourage anyone to come to any or all the meetings. Your input would be greatly appreciated. I feel you would get something out of it, also.

In attendance were Roxane Crawford of Brandon, Dorothy Danielson of Florence and myself, Joyce Boothe of Brandon. I gave red cross-bookmarks to each and one for Dorothy's husband.

Roxane, Joyce and Dorothy