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Hi again, guys. I'm Ava Bennet, and about a week ago ago, I posted a story about my diagnosis as a Half-Filled berry. I mention how me and the other half-fills met up and started our own group, and with their permission, I thought I'd talk about our community a little more. In the years since I met them, I've learned a lot about them.
You already know about me, so in no particular order, I'll start with Susan Jackson. She's one of the nicest ladies I know. She, before her diagnosis, lived in the deep south of the U.S, in a very small town. But her town was, and still is, without a Berry Care facility, so when she was diagnosed, she found a facility somewhere nice, packed her things, and moved into the facility about 2 months after her diagnosis. But as it progressed, it began slowing, and she, like me, was diagnosed with Half-Fill. She decided to stay in LA, and has been working as a teacher for about 16 years now. She has the thickest southern accent you'll ever hear, and loves her overalls to death.
Next is Ramona Venus. She's about my age, and was diagnosed maybe a year before me. But unlike us, she was aware she'd be a half fill when she was diagnosed. Apparently it's detectable, but very hard to spot with current medical equipment. We're all roughly the same size and weight, except Ramona. She weighs in at 910 pounds, about 220lbs more than our next biggest member (Susan). Being that much larger, she looks much more like a standard berry, but is still capable of movement, which is actually very impressive to watch.
The next and final member, for now, is Bella, who isn't comfortable sharing her last name here. She's the lady I talked about in the first chapter. As I said, she was diagnosed at 27, 6 months after she'd given birth. She had a baby that she wouldn't have been able to be there for if she'd become a full berry, so being a half-fill was actually a good thing in her situation. Her kid, who has kids of her own, sits in on our meetings sometimes. She's the resident grandma of our group.
We meet every other Wednesday in a spare library room we reserve, but what do we actually do? Well, we do a lot of talking, but in the four years since the group was founded, we've held larger events, such as a donation drive to support Berry Cares around the country, we've actually gone to berry cares together, and organized events about making spaces more Half-Fill accessible. I hope to see you there!