I rode the escalator after twenty years of taking stairs

Dear Delyara, I fell on an escalator as a child and became terrified of them. For twenty years, I used stairs or elevators, even when it meant ridiculous detours. Therapy included watching escalators, standing near them, stepping on while holding the therapist’s arm, then riding one stop repeatedly. Yesterday, I rode alone in a busy station. My heart raced while I waited for the step. I almost walked away because people were behind me. Then I stepped on. Forty seconds later, I stepped off. No one around me knew anything had happened. I laughed afterward because the victory was so physically small. One moving staircase. Fear had built entire routes around avoiding it. Now I have one more way through the city.