Perspective

I don't know about other people, but my body is notoriously unreliable.

Even when I think it is in good shape: the right weight, well exercised, and healthy; things go wrong.

I can go from ten to zero in a flash.

Fevers crop up out of nowhere. Ankles swell up in a step. Exhaustion drops on me like a blanket while shopping. Dreams can leave me dripping wet with sweat as if I had run ten miles in my sleep.

In the past there have never been any pinpointed physical reasons for any of it. I have some kind of autoimmune reactions that are so random they are only treated when they totally crash.

Last Fall my face swelled up so I looked like someone from a freak show and a prednisone prescription finally headed me the other way.

In between it all I am often the picture of health for someone my age and size and I guess that is the blessing, but sometimes it is hard to see it that way.

Chances to get out around other people are so rare during these COVID-19 times that losing one to a turned ankle feels catastrophic when I guess it truly is not.