Hello. All
Sorry for the delay concerning the Big Day. Procrastination comes along with the meds "Do it tomorrow' lives with me.
So finally, I got the right time, date and location. Simple Pleasures Cafe is located in the Richmond District, San Francisco. A Sunday morning crowd sipped coffee and ate bagels and pastries. I looked around and I saw a guy that looked like Ben. "Hi, are you Ben?".."Who?". Wrong guy. Then, I saw a guy that looked like Scott. ..Hi, Are you Scott ?".."No"..I needed a different approach. I walk passed this other guy who looked like Ben. As I walked by, I asked, "TN?".."Yes, Are you Bill?" "Yes"...Contact!
Plan 1 didn't work. He had a coffee,so I couldn't offer to buy him a cup. So, I went directly to the big embrace and thanked him for all that he has done for 35,000 people. That is the combined number of all the rare disorder groups. The watery eyes didn't come until later. I must have thanked him for his work every few minutes. He is a very modest guy so this must have driven him crazy for I'm sure this is repeated by everyone he meets.
After a conversation about our lives etc.,He asked me about my story and I gave him the low down of misdiagnosis, social isolation, depression, the joy of finding Living with TN and the great question; what came first for me, toothache or TN? Ben is a good listener. I asked him about the new group, Doctor Recommendations and other plans for the site as the numbers rapidly increase.
Also, I learned about Mr Stammler.. I don't remember his correct name. I should. He is the Administrator of the entire site. It is a volunteer position. That surprised me and I suggested that it should be a paid position. Ben doesn't like to talk money but I do. I said that with our large membership it should be no problem in raising funds to make it a paid position.. He doesn't want members to feel that they have to contribute to be a part of the group. .Ben discussed several other fund raising plans. There is more info on this in the article below.
It didn't take long before Red's name came up. What can I say. We all know what a miracle he is. .So, after a good conversation and my watery-eyed thank you's. We said our good-by's. One cup of coffee was enough for him. For me, an extraordinary meeting with an extraordinary man. I forgot to ask him for his autograph. Darn!