Happy sixth ampu-versary to me!

Today marks six years since the first piece of my original drive train was removed. That day in 2007 (a Monday) was proceeded by the Original Leg Party of that Saturday night. I've alluded to recently-surfaced lost video footage of said party, but I don't yet have it transferred to a CD.

Today was one more  chilly, grey(ish, though the sun came out) winter day in upstate New York. I have many excuses for today's squirreliness: cabin fever, the full moon last night, February (the longest month, though it masquerades as the shortest)...but maybe it was my body/brain's way of acknowledging the death of part of itself.

The good news: my friend Jan Heimlich, author of Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment (and fellow panelist at the upcoming American Humanist Association's national conference in June) just posted an interview I did with her. Her book is an intense and thoroughly-researched  study that I highly recommend. More on it soon.

So here is the link to the interview on her other website, Child-friendlyfaith.org .

And here is a picture of me a couple months shy of six years ago after my stump had healed, when I was beginning the process of being fitted for my first prosthesis. It was the first time I'd stood up straight on both legs since November, 1975. My older daughter took the picture with her phone (which in itself was amazing) and emailed it to everyone I knew.

Debbie, a close friend for more than half my life, parent, equestrian, athlete & boss extraordinaire, told me, "That's a new-pony smile!" 

She was exactly right. That was how I felt. And still do, really.