b'Adolescents unite like me, was 16 at the time, but had beenMore than a year after her initial inquiry, diagnosed when she was only four years old,a sta member from the Society informed Emily said. I was the rst kid she ever metEmily that they found another teenager with that also had MS. That day, I put my foot downMS in Sioux Falls, S.D., approximately ve hours and said, this has to change.away from her home in Minneapolis. In no time, Soon,changecame,notonlythroughshe and the girl were friends on Facebook. It nding other children, but in the form of awas an incredible relationship because we sock monkey. understoodeachother,Emilysaid.And Oscar, a winnerthen two of us turned into ve of us! The girl Emily knitted her rst sweater at seven,with whomtheMSSocietyconnectedme and throughout her time in school, she earnedshared a neurologist with a few other teens in the reputation of being the girl with the knittingher area that had multiple sclerosis.needles, but at one point, her skin sensitivityOne day, the idea of meeting in person forced her to stop. The yarn running acrossarose in their group chat, and by Friday of that my ngers was very painful, she said. It wasweek, Emily and her father drove to Sioux devastating, and I had to nd some way toFalls and met her new friends at IHOP on keep my hands busy.Saturday morning. We spent the day just One of Emilys friends taught her how tobeing teenagers; we teased each other about make sock monkeys, and she began sellingour balance and vision issues, you know? them as fundraisers. After nding a pair ofEverything MS, said Emily. We never did it orange socks in the hunting department of amaliciously, but as a way to show we were not store, Emily decided to make a sock monkeyalone. As we returned home to Minneapolis, for herself for the rst time in a while. I nameI thought to myself: there have to be other all the sock monkeys I make; usually, the nameteenagers with MS out there. We can\'t possibly comes to me, and Ill introduce them to mybe the only ones.familyassoandso,saidEmily.OtherEmily spoke to the president of the National times, I\'ll make a sock monkey, go into theMS Society about an idea to unite adolescents living room, and ask my family what theirwith MS. While they liked the concept, the name should be. I remember making Oscarorganization thought the focus should be on and telling my family that was his name, butchildren whose parents live with MS. At that my dad remembers naming Oscar himself.time, 10 years ago, Emily took the initiative and Its still a mystery; no one knows for sure.did the footwork alone. "I found many youths Oscar would accompany Emily to severalon social media from Facebook to YouTube MS events, serving as a conversation starterand requested to connect with them. Eventually, and allowing Emily to share her story. I gotI put a large map over my bed and used push diagnosed as a kid, and Oscar is sort of like apins to keep track of the other kids with MS kid\'stoy,Emilysaid.Someonesuggestedthat I found. Once I had a bunch of pins in she start a Facebook page for Oscar so theone area, I informed each child about the community could stay in touch with him andothersintheirvicinityandaskedifthey see what hes doing. With that page came thewanted to contact them. organization:Mr.OscarMonkey.It wasaI remember a girl in North Carolina who, great tool, in that I used Oscar as a way to35 msfocusmagazine.org'