When did you first notice something had changed?
I was in a meeting. Someone asked me a question I had answered a hundred times before, and I opened my mouth and nothing came. Not slow. Not hesitant. Nothing. I sat there and watched myself fail to produce words as if I was watching someone else.
What did you think was happening?
I thought I was tired. That was the only explanation I had. I had been tired before and pushed through it, so I assumed this was the same and I would push through again. It took six more weeks before I understood that the pushing was the problem.
(Long pause)
The system had been asking for less for a long time. I kept answering with more.
What stayed open when so much else had closed?
I could still walk. I walked every day, early, before the day asked anything of me. That stayed available for months when almost nothing else did. I think the walking was what kept the route back open.