Lady who runs the cafe: Girl, I haven't seen you in awhile! I thought you left us. Where have you been?
Me: I had stroke in October.
Lady who runs the cafe: *gasp* Oh that's awful...
Repeat and rinse as you meet familiar faces. I went through it 3 times yesterday. Twice today
I began to ponder if maybe I shouldn't be specific. It never occurred to me to be anything but honest. I am not ashamed of having a stroke. You can hear it in my voice, so hiding it seems silly. But when I tell people, I get such strong reactions. It's nice that people care, don't get me wrong. But it makes me feel like I'm an attention whore.
I told Cliff about this last night. He said I should I say I was in quarantine, or in jail. Something outrageous. Then follow it up with, "Just kidding, I just had a stroke." Hah!
One last thing about yesterday. I went up to the tax office after work to pay the registration fee for Cliff's motorcycle. As I was leaving, a man walked by and said, "Hello, pretty lady." He smiled as he passed me to enter the building. That was nice!