Tuesdays

Tuesdays with Beth have come to an end. Beth is on contract with CCAC. I didn't see her every Tuesday, but when she came, it was always on a Tuesday.

"Let's review," she says. I didn't know there was going to be a test!

During the discussion, I offer this:
"When we met, I felt a responsibility to display a normal life for the comfort of others. Today, I have made it the responsibility of others to accept the different ways that my illness affects daily living. In essence, if my illness makes you uncomfortable, that's your problem, not mine."

We agree that taking responsibility and putting it back is a cycle. It is part of dealing with a chronic illness. This is not news to me. It just so happens that in November, I was at the 'taking responsibility' phase. She says that she'd like to take credit for offering something that returned me to the-responsibility-is-yours-phase, but doesn't think there is.

Near the end of the session, she wants to play a game of Finish This Sentence. I know what she's doing and it's obvious where this is going, but I play along until the last phrase in her game:

Life without challenge.....
Response: ...would be a very refreshing change.

She tells me that she has had fun, leaves me the titles of a couple books I might want to read then looks at the struggling hibiscus. "That gardening thing doesn't seem to be working out," she says. "Maybe you should reconsider knitting."