I’m not sure if it’s okay to be happy about this, but I AM SO GLAD!
Ever since I met my first, NF Friend (Ate Cel), I’ve started listing down the names of my NF Friends. Wala lang. Gusto ko lang.
I started writing it on Notepad (the app).
And then the names on the list reached 15++, so I transferred it to MS Excel while we were hoping that we’ll be plenty enough to be able to form a support group.
And then NFF Support Group was born!
I keep revising and editing the list as our members grew in number. When it reached 50, I wished that if only I can group the members according to theeir location so that they’ll know who lives near who. But I think it won’t be fair for some if nobody else is located near them.
Fast forward to today, we already have: 65 NF Friends from Metro Manila, 12 NF Friends in Rizal, 14 NF friend in Laguna, 13 NF Friends in Cavite, 8 NF Friends in Bulacan, 10 NF Friends in Southern Luzon, 23 NF Friends in Northern Luzon, 27 NF Friends in Visayas, 17 NF Friends in Mindanao, and 10 Filipinos with NF from outside the country.
Once again, I have mixed feelings about this. Happy that we already have a lot of members and it’s now a 3-digit number. Sad that there are a lot of us who have NF. And then VERY HAPPY that we found each other! We are really not alone.
The other night, while I was arranging & organizing the list, I suddenly felt so amazed, happy, & grateful all at the same time and so I posted this:
It goes something like this:
When there are members who were able to find NFF (support group) because a random person approached them and asked: “Do you have NF?” and then told them about NEUROFIBROMATOSIS FRIENDS (Philippines).
When there a students who send messages to the NFF page because of their case study, thesis or assignment that is about NF.
NF may still be not that known and a lot of people are still not aware about it but *tears of joy because even if it’s something small and only a few people knows about it, still there is something.
It’s just like the saying, “every cent counts.”
Big things are made of small things, right?
