My 5 year anniversary is coming up next week & I have been thinking many of the same thoughts as you have. But even as an ex-English teacher, I could not have written them down as well as you have; I agree with the others, you write eloquently. I think often about, “What might have been,” how different the lives of my husband & myself would have been had I not gotten sick. I am left with more residuals than you, must wear AFOs to walk, use a cane sometimes for balance, & need a lot of rest for the fatigue. Lost my teaching job just a few weeks after I became so ill, what a waste so much of all of this has been. Most people who see me out in public think I look great, little do they know the effort it takes for me to even walk!

But your post starting me thinking, what about having a dating service here on this sight? I would love to have a 48 year old man around who needed lots & lots of rest! Then I wouldn’t have to push myself to keep up with someone with normal energy all of the time. Someone who really understands what this fatigue feels like. I am not rich, but don’t really have to worry about money too much, but fortunately (or unfortunately) I do have a wonderful husband. But many here do not, & would welcome someone to live with who could live the way we have to now live. Interesting…