When I started my Club, I believe there were only Genesee, Saginaw, Downriver, Monroe, and Brighton Clubs. Our format was to educate patients, caregivers, and the general public about Michigan’s new Medical Marihuana Law. There are now many clubs covering the whole state. These Clubs have started for many reasons. Some educate, some provide a place to medicate, some are social, and some are a mix of everything. At the start, the difficulty was in finding a place to go; now the issue would be, where to go first.

During the early days, it seemed that I always had informational flyers with me. I passed them out while at the Eastern Market, or visiting the City-County Building. If spending the day at Belle Isle, Palmer Park or the State Fair, chances are I handed out a flyer or two. People at drug stores, supermarkets, and other stores have received flyers for me. It did not matter if I was in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, or Livingston Counties; I had flyers to hand out. If was important to me that the public understood what the law allowed. Better yet, what it didn’t.

I was there during the 2009 Liberation Day festivities. This was the day I meet the Lovely Mary Jane, JuztBudz, Peanut Butter, and Swampy (R.I.P. my friend). I also spoke with Bob Redden while working the booth.

I missed the 09 Hash Bash. I had an appointment that ran most of the day. I made it to A2 kinda late. The closest parking I found was way away. After walking a block, I knew that I was too sore and in pain to make it to the Diaz.

By June, Lovely Mary Jane’s group had blended with mine. Our meeting that month was held at Palmer Park. Swampy and his family came from Bay City to attend, as did Mr. and Mrs. Mizerman. Over the time, there have been events planned. One or two of them were actually completed. I would have like to have done more, but I was stretching my body as it was.

On the business side of the 09 Expo, there were issues. Still, the outgoingness & kindness of those working to clean and make the area presentable was awesome. From the patient viewpoint, it was informative. I helped behind the information booth though the heavy rains and the blistery sun. The weekend spent with Rochester Cares, stxchick, theotherguy, the Big Daddy family, and all the rest was great. Hey Liz, this was truly a “hurt so good” moment. I still think the organizers (whoever they really were)should have provided a THANK YOU party after the event.

As one of the “instructor” at the 2009 Ann Arbor Oaksterdam training session, I meet TJ Rice, Medicine Woman and others members from the site. Being at Oaksterdam that weekend was wonderful. There were member from all over the country. I would guess that more of the people were not from Michigan.

I felt myself weakening as the year started. I knew I would have to cut my activities down quite a bit. I, LMJ, and Ron Klug made it out to Jackson for their Pot Chile Cook-off. We arrived well after the rest of the entries, but that did not stop us from going home with 1st Place trophy.

We had planned a Girls Night Out Cooking Class, and a Bake-off. Both events were to be held in the Ann Arbor area, and both were cancelled due to low participation.

I was not felling well, but I made it to the Hash Bash; although I didn’t stay long. I stopped at the first booth where I knew people. I hung with the Big Daddy group. My son was with me. He had taken photos which were printed in the Michigan Medical Marijuana Magazine.

I attended the Social Forum held at Cobo Center during late June. I wished there was more of a community showing. Hey, it is what it is. The Hemp Expo held in Toronto during mid-July was another “don’t miss” event. It was made wonderful thanks to stxchick and juztbudz.

I had made it known that I did not care to smoke. I had talked about other means of ingestion. I had been asked by a few to develop and share my recipes. It was even suggested that I conduct cooking classes. By late 2009, I was preparing a cookbook. I had developed some basis recipes into a collection called, Chocolate’s Infusions Medical Edibles. I have also come up with a few goodies that did not make it into the book, but was sampled by a chosen few. Of late, I have created some ointments, lotions, rubs, and other topical.

Last November, my cookbook and I were mentioned in a Washington Post article. This past March, we were part of a Metro Times piece. There was a piece I wrote that is presented in the Michigan Medical Marijuana Magazine #9, and I had a mention in Treating Yourself #20.

Whoa, I did not realize that I had involved myself in so much. Using all this activity as a diversion, some medical matters have creped up on me. To those who wonder why they have not seen me, it’s because I had overdone and cause myself damage. There have been things happening the last few months, and will happen during the next few, but it is unlikely that I will attend. BUT, since it is close, I will try to be at the event on the 12th, at Eastern Market.

You know how the stewardess says to place the mask over your face first? I didn’t do this. I was looking after the patients, forgetting that I too was a patient. A couple of times my body slapped me, and told me to at least slow down. I slowed just enough to rev back up. When the body decided to break bones, I decided to listen more closely.

It would be impossible to give thanks to all who I have met during these months. We will meet again, I first need to put on my mask and get myself right.

For those who are interested, my cookbook, Chocolate’s Infusions Medical Edible and More, can be purchased for $10 from Gro Blue Indoor Grow store, MedMar, A2 Health Collective, The Healing Center of A2, and Green Bee Collective in Ann Arbor.

***I am still working on this. If you quote something, don't be surprised if the statement changes.***