I've been absent for awhile ... just busy ... but it is posts like these that are needed more than ever, for all of us, in every stage of the disease, but more so for the newbies. We've all been there before and know how it feels.

Like a support group that you can choose to attend or not, I choose to visit this site because of the shared feelings, the sharing of different coping strategies, and the outpouring of love and support that is given. I'm somewhat familiar with support groups (my dad joined plenty when my mom died at the age of 40), but what stayed with me the most was that each support group was geared toward different personalities. He would find one group that only wallowed in self pity, another that were avid book readers or enjoyed playing cards, another that included family outings, and yet another that enjoyed travel. Each group offered each individual something different.

The difference in this site, however, is that each thread, each post, and each reply hit all of us differently. Many are into research topics, others are interested in alternative medicine, still others into politics and religion. The cool thing is that you can find "your" type of support in any one of these threads.

I LOVE THIS SITE and would not be who I am without it. Hands down.

On to another entirely random topic ... if any of you are looking for some comic relief, there is a comedian out there who has a DVD called:

Jeff Dunham - Arguing with Myself

This DVD is hysterical, is not politically correct, is not offensive, and is just downright funny. There is no way to explain this comedy. It is something that must be experienced. If anyone is interested, it is available on Amazon.com. New ones cost $9.99 and used DVD's are starting at $8.81.

If anyone on this site can't afford the cost, I'll do my best to ship a copy to you personally. I don't care if I get 100 people who e-mail me! I'll simply begin compiling a list and start at the top.

My e-mail address is:

proudest_mama@yahoo.com

Lastly, two more thoughts:

1) If anyone DOES order their copy and/or has seen it already, please post what YOU thought about this DVD.

2) Should we consider having a thread for different movies, different music, etc. that motivate, inspire, or just offer comic relief?

As usual, I'm always open to suggestions and/or comments!!

Terri