As president and co-founder of Midcoast Lyme Disease Support & Education (MLDSE, www.mldse.org), I want to say it's been an honor and privilege to serve the Lyme Community and public at large for the last 11 years, first as a patient (2009) then as an advocate (2014), with educational events and connecting patients and their families to much needed resources, for hope and healing. When we first began down this road, we never imagined the places we'd go, opportunities we'd be given and the people we'd meet along the way.

Life (Lyme and other tick-borne diseases) has taken us on quite the journey, from discovery to advocacy, through the valleys to the mountain tops, it has allowed us to help so many, has produced so many opportunities for us to grow and thrive, both individually and as an organization.

With lots of new opportunities in the works --- new projects, new relationships, new goals, with new opportunities to serve and educate on a much wider platform and on a grander scale --- we can hardly contain our excitement!

MLDSE will proudly serve out its mission and commitments through the end of 2021 at which point the nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) charitable foundation will officially be dissolved (as of Dec. 31) and then we will embark on the next steps of our personal and professional journeys.

We thank all our supporters, our Community Partners, all the individuals, businesses and organizations who entrusted us with the care of your tick-borne disease needs.

On a personal note, I've spoken thousands of times about how and why I became an advocate, how I never set out with the intentions of becoming a full-time advocate, taking calls and emails 24/7/365 and what it means to share your story. This will forever stand out as my “Why:”

"I hope someday I get to meet you and hug you and cry with you. You may never fully know the impact that you have with the work that you are doing but I wanted to call and share one story about one life that you forever changed because of your words and actions."