This week, I’m in Minneapolis for the Leadership Conference of the Epilepsy Foundation of America. I adore this conference because it’s a wonderful experience to reunite with colleagues and friends. We have many opportunities to learn and make fun memories together. At this conference, you can do a deep dive on health equity and have karaoke. Both are happening over the next few days.
As people have led speeches and workshops, I’ve noticed how many have shared the vulnerabilities of their own stories. 1 in 26 people will be diagnosed with epilepsy at some point in their lifetime, and 1 in 10 will have a seizure at some point in their lifetime. That means there are a lot of people living with epilepsy, and a lot of people who are caring for someone with epilepsy.
People have been very personal here. There is a “Why” behind their work. Walter Koroshetz, former director of NINDS (the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke), spoke today, and he, too, made his remarks personal. He shared that he appreciates these deep ways of sharing in our community.
“I’m going to encourage you not to be stoic,” he shared.
I bet a lot of us — inside this community and beyond — could appreciate that reminder.
And I hope whatever we are experiencing, we can be real and find our people. Everyone needs that. Everyone deserves that.
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 