Hi all. So this is a story that I think Drama will enjoy. It's a bit long as there's some backstory and multiple instances of drama. It basically covers some run ins I had with a women and a few of her friends when I started up a separate support group for people with disabilities.

I was in a pretty bad car accident in 2005. I broke my lumbar spine in two places (L5 and S1). The worst part was it was missed in the initial ER visit after the accident. So I was walking around with a broken back, getting progressively worse and had no idea why. It also caused more problems as it healed wrong which caused herniated/bulging discs up my spine. I ended up in a wheelchair, I could move my legs but they couldn't support me. I finally found a great neurologist and a fantastic surgeon.

I had two spinal operations in 2006 and went through a shit load of grueling physical therapy. It took a ton of work by both my doctors and myself but I could walk again. I was walking with a cane, slowly and dealing with some moderate pain. Now I was ecstatic I was out of that wheelchair but I had thought I would be closer to what I was before the accident. My neurologist had to sit me down and tell me this is pretty much the best I was going to get. I was crushed and I know that sounds shitty since I'm lucky compared to others that didn't get to leave their chair behind. But I was still depressed.

So this would be 2007 and browsing online I found a support group for disabled people in my area. I decided to get out of the house and go, it was a great decision. The support group was amazing. People sharing their stories, joking around about their various disabilities, giving help to each other and that feeling of "we're all in this together". The group was run by Dave who was a really sweet guy. I kind of felt he went on about God too much (I'm not even an atheist btw) but he never shoved it down our throats so it was fine.

I met some great people there and everybody was super welcoming. The group also didn't just meet to talk but Dave organized can food drives, bake sales/yard sales to raise money for various charities, setting up Big Brother/Big Sister relationships for disabled kids and people in the group. It not only helped the people we were helping but the people in the group as well. Being disabled it's easy to find yourself feeling you provide no more use for society so this really helped. The group remained great, no topic was off limits and everybody seemed to get something from it.

I stuck with the group until around 2011, my business was starting to get bigger and I got diagnosed with cancer so I didn't get around to going to the group anymore. Fast forward to 2014, I was having a bit of a set back with my back again. I called up a friend of mine who also used to go to the group and he suggested we both go back. I thought that was a great idea. I had heard Dave had moved a couple of years ago but the group was still meeting with somebody new leading.

So, me and Eric go to the group and it is vastly different. It was headed by a women named Dawn. She ran the group very different from Dave, it seemed much more focused on the negative. Example, a young women in a wheelchair, Sarah, talked about how at work she had a coworker who would jump up and help her without her ever asking for help. I can understand where she was coming from, it can be annoying and be a bit patronizing. But it did sound like the guy was just trying to help. Dawn goes on about how terrible the coworker is and she needs to report him to HR and try to get him fired. Others in the group went on to call the coworker a bunch of nasty names.

After the meeting I introduced myself to Sarah and told her I knew how she felt with the coworker as something like that has happened to myself in the past. I told her she might want to try just talking with him first before going to HR, be polite and say that you appreciate the help but you need to do things for yourself and you'll be sure to ask him if you need anything. Sarah thanked me and said she really liked the advice and would go that route. Dawn who I had noticed was listening into the conversation came over and told Sarah she needed to really think hard about it because she doesn't know how the coworker could react. Afterwards Dawn gave me this scolding like lecture about unsolicited advice and how it could be dangerous. I just yes 'd her to death then went to find Eric.

Eric was talking to somebody we had known back when Dave ran the group. He let us know how much things have changed with Dawn running the group. Jokes, even at your own expense are banned, she shut down all the charity programs, she shuts down discussions she deems unnecessary or harmful, she tried to smear a company because they didn't promote somebody in the group who had been working there for a couple of months, people who used to go there stopped going after she took over due to the change in tone, etc. Something else I noticed were Dawn and her friends were trading/selling various prescription drugs after the meeting (namely Soma, a strong muscle relaxer). I'm not a prude or anything but the meeting is at a rec center and it seemed unfair to the owner to do that there since he could possibly get in trouble for it.

So we are talking about the old group and a couple of people come over and join the conversation. One of them, a 19 year old, Tim, talked about how awesome the old group sounds compared to now and he wished it was still like that. That's when Eric looks over to me and says I should start up another group like the old one and he was sure that some of the others who left would really like that. I gave him a "Really asshole?" Look since he put me on the spot. Everybody around agreed saying that would be cool and they would like an alternative. I told them I would think about it.

Soon after Eric and myself left, in the car I bitched him out a bit for putting me on the spot and hearing about and talking to her I wasn't sure I wanted to be on Dawns bad side. He apologized but said I would do great in Daves old role since I was helping him a lot in the old group. He said there seemed to be a real need for another group like that and I could really help. I told him again I would think about it.

Later that night I got a FB message from Tim telling me he really hoped I would start up another group as he was close to leaving the current one. Also Eric let "slip" to a couple of the old members that I was thinking about starting up a new group so I got messages from them. I decided to sleep on it, the next morning while I had my morning coffee I decided, yes I would give it a shot. It seems like a new group could really help and what's the worst that could happen?

Part II coming later tonight.