An elderly couple lived across the street from us when I was young. They had a grandson named Jackie who would periodically come to visit. Sometimes Jackie would get to stay with his grandparents for a week or so. He was around my age, so he, my other friend John, and I would play together whenever Jackie came.
One summer, Jackie’s grandfather bought him a go-cart and John and I were often invited to drive it when Jackie was there. It was the neatest thing in the world to a young boy in our era. Electric ride-on vehicles had not yet been invented, so it was either your bike or you walked. Having horsepower behind you allowed you to experience Disneyland right in Jackie’s grandfather’s yard.
We would take turns driving it around the yard until it ran out of gas. Jackie’s grandfather taught us how to safely refill it with gas when it ran out. There was only one problem. He instructed us to wait until the engine cooled down before attempting to refill it. That took away the possibility of fire, but it also meant idle time for three adolescent boys. Have you ever seen adolescent boys be patient? Me neither.
Being young boys, patience was not one of our virtues. The first time we refilled it without waiting for it to cool down, nothing bad happened. There was no fire, no explosion. We were good to go without the normal 10 minute wait. As such, that became our norm (when Jackie’s grandfather was not around). When it ran out of gas, we immediately refilled it and pulled the cord to start it and begin driving again.
One time after filling the gas tank, I pulled on the starter cord and the go-cart rolled back a little. A part of the exhaust muffler, which was still extremely hot, touched the inside of my forearm and gave me quite a burn. It blistered immediately. The neat thing was, it blistered up in the shape of a Batman symbol. The next day, the same thing happened to my friend, John. When attempting to pull the cord to start it, the go-cart rolled back and the exhaust muffler touched his arm in the same place, leaving the same Batman blister.
That’s all it took for two kids with vivid imaginations. We decided to form a club and you had to have this Batman blister (and later Batman scar) to be in the club. There’s something about commonality coupled with uniqueness that seems to pull people together. We shared a common Batman blister, so that made us unique among our friends and it bonded us into wanting to capitalize on that uniqueness.
Whether you realize it or not, all of you who read my blogs and I have formed a club. Either you have Myasthenia Gravis, or you know someone who does. That means we share a commonality. That also means we share uniqueness. MG is considered a rare disease, so our commonality is indeed unique.
So, what should we do with this club? We could do nothing and just appreciate the fact that we are members, or we could do something a little more exciting with it.
I’ve always been known as having creative, out-of-the-box ideas. I suppose that comes from my vivid imagination. This MG club of sorts presents me with a challenge. How do we make our club more fun and more productive? I’ll be thinking of ways to do that, but I’d also appreciate ideas from you. Do we start a prayer group? Do we host Zoom meetings where everyone can get on and actually see each other? The ideas are endless.
I know what you’re saying…”is this guy crazy, or what?” Perhaps I’m a little crazy, but I think camaraderie helps you through difficult times in your life. MG is unquestionably a difficult time, so what if we used our camaraderie in a unique fashion to create closer friendships and to help each other out in times of need? We could come up with a unique name and maybe even recruit more people. Like I said, the ideas are endless, but I can’t do this alone. One person does not create a club. A club is created where there are people who share a commonality and vision. Give it some thought.
If you have an idea, drop me a note in the comments or in an email. I’d love to hear them. Our common uniqueness makes us special, so let’s do something and have some fun with it.
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