Another Gathering of Members

On the February 12, Tim called us for a meeting that evening, as he wanted a final discussion on members leaving the group. When we arrived, we could tell that Tim was very upset like many of us had not seen before. Even Allen was surprised when he was not greeted.

Tim called the meeting to order and asked if there were any other members that were thinking of leaving the group. Then he went through the members, name by name. Everyone answered no, and Tim said that he had contacted Tom with the same question and received the same answer. He then explained that the three not present had quit the group this week and Tim stated that he is not happy.

Tim continued that the three that quit would not give him a reason or even answer any questions. Jerry asked to speak and said he may have an answer. Jerry said that his now ex-wife had said she would do what she could to destroy our support group and this could be why some of the members have left. With that Norm asked to speak. Jerry said go ahead. Norm said you may have noticed that those leaving to-date are not part of the VA as I am not. Yes, Jerry's ex-wife did contact me and gave me a bunch of lies that I knew were lies because I am friends with Allen and Max. I knew better and told her she was lying and I wanted to stay with the group.

Jennifer said she contacted me as well and if the group had not helped me, I might have believed her. I hung up on her and when she called again, I would not answer. Gale said she will be contacting those that are veterans as she had called her. Gale said that after Sue's help, she would not leave. She said that anyone that had received nutrition advice from her will probably be contacted, so be prepared and decide now where you want to place you loyalty. Rose spoke up and said she had also been contacted, but had told her she was not leaving. Julie added that she had also turned her down.

Jerry asked Earl and he said he had not been contacted yet, and the last three said no also. Jerry asked if they would be considering leaving now and all four said that now they would not listen to her and had planned on staying with the group. If they had been contacted before the last two meetings they might have been easier to sway. The last two meetings made us realized the group did have our best interests in mind and while the topic was not what they wanted to hear, this has been a wake up call about how serious diabetes could be.

Ken said he would also like topics about the other complications now and Jay said this would be good. Dan said he had an appointment with the nutritionist cousin of Bob's and the few questions she had answered during the meeting meant that he was happy.

Now Jerry was unhappy and asked if he should contact those that had left. Tim said no and Allen asked him to take a vote of the members before the new group had joined. Tim asked for a show of hands and it was in favor of no. Tim did say that we would consider them if they asked to rejoin, but that it should be their request.

Tim thanked everyone for coming on short notice and told everyone to have a happy
Valentines Day. Now that he understood what was happening, he was not as unhappy as he was.