You Asked For It...Here It Is (ADINA!)...

OK...I may have stretched the truth a tiny bit to protect the innocent! That would be to protect Saint EB's virtue. LOL

In the previous post regarding her "BIKACIDE" ride in the MS150 local charity ride in September (the one where she's riding FOR me?!?), I referred to her as a "middle-aged" woman...this stirred some controversy regarding my definition of "middle-aged". Some even pointed out the fact I, me, myself, am middle-aged. LOL

So just to be on the safe side, let me rephrase this issue regarding Saint EB's age...she is a "bit" older than me...certainly old enough to know better than to sign herself up for a NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE!!! Yet, she has gone and done it anyway...sigh...

There has also been someone with MS (I won't point any fingers here--ADINA!) who wanted to know how to donate on line to Saint EB's ride. This is a wonderfully kind offer...I must first put a disclaimer out regarding my personal fund-raising drive for Saint EB's ride/BIKACIDE, however.

Those of us WITH MS already are "donors", if you will...by chance circumstance, fate has dealt us this disease, which we will continue to manage for the rest of our lives. Several folks with MS are not as fortunate as I am...to remain employed and basically in good health. Many people with MS are on disability, which HARKOO/JOYCE has pointed out to me in the past is a "no-no" for making charitable contributions...the LAW simply won't allow it (I guess if the "govmet" is giving you money to barely live on, they feel one shouldn't frivolously throw it into someone else's charitable pot). So I would NEVER request or even imply any of you with MS should donate ANYTHING to the MS Society...the very charity organization that is supposed to be GIVING BACK to YOU. But still...ADINA asks...LOL

There are also those of you I work with (you know who YOU are!) who read BRAINCHEESE, do good deeds on a daily basis, and already donate to local and national charities. Unfortunately (and I say with tongue in cheek), you ARE employed and have the pleasure of working with ME! For this, you ARE being asked to "pay the piper"! LOL And ask anyone ELSE you know who could part with a few dollars to pledge/donate to Saint EB's ride/BIKACIDE.

So here's how to pledge/donate:

1. You can go to the local Greater Washington MS Society web page and click on the MS150 ride link. Here's their link: www.nationalmssociety.org/was

2. Once you get to the Great Washington Chapter MS150 web page, look to the left (red area) and you will see a link called "Find A Rider". Click on this and you'll be redirected to a search page.

3. Yes, you will have to type in Saint EB's real name (Elizabeth Baker) and your search will reveal two entries. Click on Saint EB's link with the "Smyelin Babes"...this is the MS150 team she is riding with. You will be directed to her personal donation page. Donations can be made as simply as a credit card here...it's so easy, you'll WANT to tell your friends/family/enemies how to part with a bit of THEIR change, too!

4. OR...you can try simply clicking this link: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=3652696&pg=personal&fr_id=2030 It may or may not redirect you to Saint EB's "home page" for donations...I'm not computer literate enough to figure out how to place the link directly in the page any other way!

And if ALL OF THE ABOVE FAILS, the MS Society isn't picky about accepting CASH or CHECK donations made out to them with the "memo" part filled in as MS150/Elizabeth Baker...it will all go to the same pot of gold anyway.

So now's your chance...Saint EB has only set a goal of raising $500.00. It's her first ride (and most likely her last as well as the end of our glorious friendship! LOL) and she may choose to do the ONE HUNDRED mile stretch versus the full ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY miles...the fact she is even choosing to ride at all (in her middle-aged-ness and everything!) nearly brings me to tears each time I think about it.

How blessed I am...to have such a wonderful person I call "friend"...to have those of you who read my blathering prose, who I also refer to as "friends"...to have Multiple Sclerosis and STILL have a job, a home, a car, and more "things" than I could ever wish for in a lifetime...to have my sight, my mobility, feeling in my hands and feet, a workable bladder, a bowel that functions, and relatively MINOR MS effects in comparison to some with this disease.

I AM truly blessed and hope to KEEP all of the above I have in my life for as long as I can WITH MS...but if you are searching for a reason to donate/pledge money toward Saint EB's ride/BIKACIDE, all you need to do is ask someone WITH MS who DOESN'T have some of the above listed gifts in their life...there is NO CURE for MS, but charitable donations can make a difference in their life/lives.