On Sunday, it will be two years to the day that I was diagnosed with MS.
Two teeny-weeny years, but it feels like a lifetime ago. Unlike my six-month anniversary (totes pretentious sad, no?), this will be a time of positive and uplifting reflection.
I am throwing off the black mourning clothes, although I do look rather fetching and dramatic in black.
Maybe I’ll just keep the black eye-liner. And beret. Anyway, so here I am. Here is my list of things I feel truly grateful for:
- I have moved into the acceptance phase. At Long Last. I’ve gone from being scared beyond belief, waking in the wee small hours, to being well-informed, if still a little bit scared.
- My relationship with The Teenager is stronger than ever. He went to London one weekend three years ago and came back to a parent who was in hospital unable to speak or walk properly. He was only 11. We’ve had tears, heart-rending conversations and hugs. Just yesterday he asked me if I was going to die of MS. I was driving at the time, bit awkward, but we chatted about it and I reassured him I would be around long enough to show his great-grandchildren that photo of him sitting naked in a jumbo-sized plant pot when he was two.
- I have a brilliant support network. From our MS team here in Cardiff who are amazing to all you guys I’ve met through blogging and Twitter. When I stopped blogging a while back, it was as if I’d been unplugged from a power source. I can’t tell you how much I missed you all. You keep me sane(ish).
- I have a fabulous job with my best friend. Ok, so he might snigger when I trip over yet again, or forget what I was saying halfway through a conversation, but he’s been great. He employed me as soon as I was sacked from my last job, even though he hates paperwork with a passion.
- I finally finished my second degree (after much, much wailing and angst) and have signed up for an MA. Never would have happened without MS. It really does make you grasp life with both hands – no pun intended.
- This is an odd one – I don’t really remember my dad as he died when I was very young, but I feel somehow closer to him, more understanding of what he must have gone through, as he had MS too.
This Sunday, as much as I would like to host a tea party or climb some random mountain just to mark the day, I will be in work. Yup. Some things never change *waves to boss*