Sometimes remarkable things happen that enrich our lives. Such a thing happened to me and I would like to share my story.

My name is Ellen and I live in New Brunswick, Canada. I am 50 years old and was diagnosed with relapsing progressive multiple sclerosis in 2003. Like many who receive startling news, I ran through a gambit of emotions for the first six months after my diagnosis, trying desperately to cope.

Eventually, I felt at peace and could once again live each day with joy and enthusiasm. I also began to read all that I could about my form of the disease. It was whilst performing this research I came across the MSIF website. I was impressed by the amount of information available and particularly interested in the My World of MS feature. I immediately signed up and did a search for others with a similar form of the disease.

This is where I believe divine intervention plays a part in my story. My search yielded many results but I was instantly drawn to one particular individual, based upon her diary entries. Starr is from Indiana, USA. I understood exactly where she was coming from and I felt a closeness to her. I emailed her through the privacy of the website and she responded. Within two or three messages we had exchanged our personal email addresses and we have never looked back.

Within no time at all, we felt such a bond that we knew we had each found a ‘sister’ in the true sense of the word. We correspond daily, call one another, share our triumphs and support one another through the difficult times. A day would not be complete if I didn’t receive an email from Starr and she feels the same. Reading her news brings a smile to my face.

Last year I was able to make the journey of a lifetime to meet Starr. The trip was everything that I had dreamed it would be and more. I was welcomed into Starr’s beautiful family and enveloped in love the whole time. We packed as much as we could into my eight day visit and I came home with memories I will treasure forever.

I have always wanted a sister, a confidant and best friend. Now, thanks to MSIF, I have the best sister in the world.

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