10 months

Happy tenth-month diagnosis anniversary! I may be a little gimpy and clumsy in ways that you as an observer might not notice, but so far I am holding up well. My goal is to get to 12 months in good shape. Then my goal becomes to get to two years in good shape.

Bonus childhood vignette: My parents had some kind of gathering at our house for people from my father's work. I was probably eight years old, and very full of myself and annoying. For example, I thought that making rude or weird sounds was just the height of humor. People will milling around everywhere. I noticed that one man tended to avoid me. He was the only one I hadn't talked to, and, I guess, performed for. When I would approach him he was always on his way somewhere else. When I said something to him he would smile, and say something brief and friendly on his way out of the room. It went on this way for quite some time, as I kept testing him and became sure that he was doing it on purpose. I finally decided that he didn't enjoy my company. It was a revelation. It didn't change my behavior, but over the years it stood as an example in my mind that a person doesn't have to stay around people they don't appreciate.