I Nearly Forgot My Own Appointment While Remembering Everybody Else’s

Dear Delyara, I had school pickup in my mind, one work deadline, the form for Friday, a relative’s birthday, my husband’s thing next week, the child’s trip money, and somehow in the middle of all that I almost let my own appointment disappear completely. I caught it in time. Still, the near-miss sat with me. Because this is what women do so often we almost stop seeing it as damage. We become excellent custodians of everyone else’s timelines and then act surprised when our own needs begin slipping through the cracks of that competence. I added the appointment to the calendar twice. Then I stood there feeling strangely sad that such a small administrative act could tell such a big truth about my life.