31 Days of SMA: Kellie Cusack

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by Kevin Schaefer |

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SMA Awareness Month

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Day 8 of 31 Days of SMA Topic: Finding My Community This is Kellie Cusack ( @kellielynne99 ) story: Hello all, I'm extremely excited to be doing this guest blog! I'm Kellie! I'm 21, and a Jersey girl! I'm a writer and mental health and disability advocate! Last year after my first adult conference, Kevin and I talked about everything from how Families of SMA changed to Cure SMA and our favorite moments from that conference which you can find here: https://m.soundcloud.com/sma-news-today/40-interview-with-kellie-cusack?in=sma-news-today/sets/sma-news-today-podcasts But now back to the main reason you clicked on this, finding your community, your ”people”, where you belong. This is something that's never easy, especially right now because the world feels scary and lonely. Last year, I went to my first SMA conference as an adult with my mom and best friend and her mom. Everything about this was extremely scary. Though I had people I love by my side, it felt like starting over. Would people like me? Would I make more friends? I'm so shy, I hope people like me! To my surprise, once we went to the dinner they had the first night everyone goes to, I felt found! They announced it was the biggest attendance ever, especially for adults! As the week went on, I felt a new found confidence to talk to everyone! I felt like I was home and happy! Moral of the story, you're never alone! Yes, this is extremely cheesy but you'll find someone who you'll connect with and feel understood. You'll have to go through different people to find that person, but when you find them, you'll feel happier! Don't give up and I'm always here for you! #SMAAwarenessMonth #SMAAwareness #31daysofsma2020

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