Your journey is one that needed to be shared Lindsay. I have seen you 'tough' it out and you are my hero! I/we are so proud of you for your courage and I am blown away by your consistent 'sunny disposition'; always genuine, always positive. How you do that with all of the pain and hardship you have endured physically, mentally, and emotionally, is beyond me.

Thank you for your mention of the 'invisible disability'. I believe that I have three, although two of them are no longer invisible. But it's far too easy for a person with any kind of disability (temporary, permanent, progressive, invisible) to get frustrated, depressed, insecure or withdrawn when you are dealing with physical pain day after day, or the fact that people are constantly judging you and you see the "happy that I am not you" look in their eye, or having to adjust the way that you carry out a so-called routine task several times each day. I think for these reasons your story is so important to share. Your story is for those with a disability to know that they are not alone (your reporting that 62% of the employee population has an invisible disability blew me away). And your story is a great reminder for people to understand that they might want to withhold their judgment and practice more discretion and empathy before they know a person's journey.

Thank you for sharing your story and thank you for being a huge part of the incredible morale that we have in HR/TA. We are all so proud of you for the good works that you do inside and outside of SAS. I agree with our colleagues that SAS is lucky to have you and some of us are even lucky to call you a friend!