The last two weeks have been very painful for me. My old back injury has been giving me big problems. When I wake up in the morning, I can barely stand. It feels like an internal hydraulic press is dragging my body into a standing contortion that is excruciating.

One of my earliest memories is of sitting in a big chair around a table in some kind of outer office. I could faintly hear voices through a wall. I think one of the voices was my mother. I remember looking up and seeing a painting that I knew to be a representation of Jesus. I felt warm, peaceful, and happy. I think about that memory and the feeling I had often.

I want people who are harboring their struggle and suffering with it in secret to know that there are some positives that come from being open. I want them to know that they can dare to open up, if not in as public a way as I have, but to those they consider their friends and loved ones.