A Lovely Lunch with my Lupus Ladies

Today is the Sunday before Remembrance Day, so we had a Remembrance Day service at church today. The service was very touching. A war vet came up during children’s time and told a very touching story. He was on a ship with the rest of his crew. It was a stormy night. This was good as it made it harder for submarines to attempt an attack. It was his turn to stay up and be the lookout, so he went onto the deck and sat down. It was then that he looked to the sky and saw a vision. He was sure it was God. It was then that he knew that God was watching over him and that he’d be ok. I loved listening to him speak.

After church, my Mom dropped me off at the mall. For the last few weeks, myself and the other models from the Flare for Fashion show decided that we should try and get together regularly. Today was the chosen day. We all met up at Casey’s for lunch. I was happy to see all of the girls again. It’s so refreshing and almost comforting to be in the company of other ladies who not only know exactly what you’re going through, but have been through it themselves.

In spite of all the things these women go through, they all manage to keep on keeping on. They work, the go for walks, the go dancing…they simply do not let lupus take over or control their entire life. I was happy to know that these ladies also have employers who are very sensitive to and understanding of the symptoms that may occur because of Lupus. I myself consider myself more than lucky to work for an employer that has been so amazing to me. If I didn’t have that in my life, I think coping with Lupus on top of everything else would be a very stressful and even depressing situation for me. My job is one less thing I have to think and worry about. I don’t have to worry about my boss getting angry because I didn’t come to work. I don’t have to worry about spending my entire salary on medications because I have a wonderful drug plan. I do consider myself one of the lucky ones.

Sitting in a group of ladies like this allows one to sit back and not only listen to the similarities we share, but also the differences. Most of us suffer from being cold all the time, but not all of us get the raynaud’s (discolouration of fingers, toes, etc). I was sitting there with a group of wonderfully brave and beautiful women who, although they go through a lot, all had radiant and warm smiles on their faces. I felt happy and honoured to be in this group of wonderful women.

This would mark our first meeting after the fashion show. I certainly hope that it won’t be our last.