Dear Ferret Folks-

I have had a few folks who went to the Portland Convention E-mail me
and let me know (nicely) that they were disappointed not to have seen
me there. Yes, I was scheduled to have been there originally. I was
very happy when I was invited by the IFC! I was looking forward to
meeting folks I only knew via computer.

I canceled my invitation about six weeks back, and that didn't get much
press, so people were surprised when they got there and I wasn't there
as expected. As some of you know I am Manic Depressive.(The trendy term
for this is 'Bipolar'.) I'm not ashamed of it, but I doesn't come up
much in my regular FML posting. Every now and then I just plain have a
bad patch, usually in the spring or fall, when the length of the days
is changing quickly. This spring was not a good one for me. It got to
the point where the IFC ladies needed me to give them my travel dates,
and I just wasn't sure I was going to be up for the trip. The
responsible thing to do was to cancel at that point, so I did. I am
sorry to have disappointed folks, but sometimes this illness forces
me to make some hard and fast decisions like this one.

After three med changes (UGGH! I could write a BOOK!) I am back to
where I should be. Sad at having missed you, but hoping to meet
everybody at another Convention in the future. Many thank-you's to
Linda Iroff and Julie Fossa and Renee Downs for being so understanding
and supportive in heavy weather.

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 5651]