Tonja Dews is the vivacious group leader of the My Story, Our Story MS Support Group – a faith-based group in Randallstown, Md. To speak with her is to know her excitement and passion for helping people with MS in her community. She started her support group because she wanted to be a part of something bigger. Tonja wanted to give the community a place to feel comfortable to share their stories. Her group name is indicative of her mission and message. The group comes together each month not only to talk and share, but to interact with and learn about each other. She incorporates ice breakers and games to help her group open up. Her “pancake game” is a great way for the group to share and then reaffirm positivity in their lives. Tonja makes pancakes specifically for the game. “I burn one side and make sure the other is light-colored, then I freeze them.” The sides of the pancake represent negatives and positives. The negative side is a little burnt and doesn’t look very tasty and the positive side is cooked to perfection. Each group member takes a turn with the burnt side face up to air the negative feelings or things that have been taking place. After that, the member flips the pancake to the other side andshares something good and looks at the bright side of things; always ending on a positive note. When asked what it takes to be the leader of her group Tonja said, “I raised six children and that gave me the experience needed to navigate the differences in people. You need patience, to be organized, and to have a vision.” As her children grew over the years, she developed the skills that help her to manage a group with different needs, interests, personalities, likes, and dislikes. She said that, when it comes to the meetings, it is best “to have a balanced amount of topics and discussions.” All you need to do is ask your group what they would like to hear about, discuss, or do, and then you can build from there. Tonja is big on thinking outside the box and coming up with new things to try. Her group will be making vision boards, which is an idea she got from herchurch. She is currentlyplanning a painting party. Tonja said that her greatest reward has been seeing people smile and laugh. “They may walk in with a frown, but they always leave smiling,” she shared. TheMyStory,OurStoryMSSupportGroupusually meets on the second Saturday of each month from 10 – 11:30 a.m. at Transformation of Life Christian Center, 9633 Liberty Road, Randallstown, MD 21133. Please contact Tonja at 443-677-7946 or mystoryourstory1@gmail.com for more information. 4 close up My Story, Our Story group members