What It's Like Writing Christmas Cards With Fibromyalgia Brain Fog
The yearly task of writing Christmas cards is upon us, and like many things in my daily life, it has become a little more complicated than in years past.
It all starts wonderfully. I think that maybe I won’t send cards out this year. I have a vague memory of struggles the year before, but a really beautiful box catches my eye with an illustration of a red vintage car overburdened with an enormous green fir. I can’t resist. And, really, I do love receiving cards and you can’t expect to receive if you don’t send. Besides, I just write a basic message – 10 words tops. Easy.
So, I sit down with my nice pen and my address book and pull out the first card. The first two go well. Excellent.
Hmmm…the next one I have to write really carefully because fibro fog is already setting in and I feel a little vague about what I’m putting on paper.
Did that make sense? Let me read it again – I’d better make sure I didn’t put in any nonsensical words or the wrong name. Who is this card for again?
Ok. Two more done. Card number five. Woops. A couple of extra loops are happening as my hand seems to have taken on a life of its own. “Happy New Year” is now “Happy Nem Yeam.” Oh well. My standards have gone down in the last two years. I’m just going to assume that they’ll get the drift. If you squint, it still looks pretty good. Just super loopy.
Card six. Card seven. Woah. I can’t even tell you what that word is. It’s certainly interesting. There are an awful lot of extra letters in there. Can you believe I used to add a personal note to each card? Wow.
Card Eight. My eyes really, really hurt and I can’t quite see what I’m doing. I’ve tried wearing my reading glasses. I’ve tried wearing my reading glasses over top of my regular glasses.
Nope, still can’t see. I guess it’s time to stop.
I’ll do a few more tomorrow. Maybe I’ll be done by the 25th. Good thing I don’t know too many people!
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