NMA conference

So I'm back from the National Meningitis Association conference in Orlando, feeling inspired by my fellow survivors, though a little tired and sinus-pressurized from yesterday's lovely air travel. During my connection in Atlanta we sat on the runway for a half-hour before being told we had to get off the plane because of mechanical issues, which was good in a sense because it gave me another chance to load up on Kleenex and cough drops. Fun fact for sports fans: I also spotted either Tiki or Ronde Barber in the concourse while we were waiting for AirTran to find another plane to put us on. I think it was probably Ronde because he looked pretty slim and in shape and I assume Tiki has let himself go a little now that his playing days are over. He still seems to exercise his mouth quite a bit, though.

Anyway, it was my second time in Orlando and it's something I wish I could do more than once a year. The setting was the Villas at Grand Cypress, a swanky golf resort that is slightly more luxurious than the European hostels or American Motel 6s that I usually stay in when I'm footing the travel bills. Fun fact for sports fans: Rumor is Ken Griffey Jr. has vacationed at this particular resort. Here's a shot of my room:






Of course that doesn't do it justice, but here's the particulars: flat-screen TV, two levels (sleeping area and living room-type area with couch), whirlpool bath, patio overlooking a pond and the palm tree-shaded golf course. Oh, and a free daily newspaper too, which would be more enticing if it weren't the Orlando Sentinel (sorry guys, but it really wasn't very impressive).

The room was nice but, the thing is, I hardly wanted to spend any time there. This conference is one of the few opportunities I get to interact with other people affected by meningitis and I wanted to make the most of it. Both years I've gone there's been about 10 survivors and they come from all over the country (San Diego, Washington state, New York, Atlanta, Indiana, etc.). Some of the faces were familiar this year, some were new. It doesn't matter. Whether we knew each other beforehand or not, there's this instant bond of understanding. We're all people who had our lives turned upside down by a disease that, in many cases, we'd barely heard of.

There are few good things about meningitis, but this is certainly one of them: if you or someone you love get the disease, you have an instant group of new friends who want to help you. It's a bit of a small group, to be sure, but that only makes it more tight-knit.

What are our discussions about? A lot of things. Sometimes they're practical (wound care, pushing for more vaccination and public awareness, getting through airport security with a metal leg). Sometimes they're profound (near-death experiences, how family members deal with tragedy, adjusting to having a body that suddenly looks markedly different than most of the ones around you). Sometimes they're just kind of silly (why going to the Grand Cypress pool at night after you've had a few drinks is always awesome, how people react when an amputee tells them he/she was attacked by a shark, what it's like when your mom friends you on Facebook after NMA teaches her how to set up a profile).

Sometimes I wonder what the "normal" folks at the resort think when they're out playing the golf course and see us walking by. Maybe something like "Who are all those people with the fake legs and scarred-up arms?" We probably look a little like an Iraq War veterans support group, just with less camouflage.

But once in a while we take a photo like the one at the bottom here. A photo in which, unless you look very closely, you don't see anything out of the ordinary. A photo in which the physical scars of the survivors are overshadowed by the closeness of the group and their joy at being alive. A photo in which the people who lost someone they loved to the disease are able to smile sincerely because they know this group will remember and honor that loved one. A photo in which we're all just a bunch of beautiful people enjoying each other's company.