Class Reunions

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Re: Looking back

From: Russ Hicks
Date: 07 Oct 2004
Time: 14:11:48 -0500
Remote Name: 24.1.53.111

Comments

Hi Kelly, Actually I did a double and triple take on that! My first reaction was she had forgotten all about me! Gasp! And yes, I was pretty well crushed for a few seconds. But then as we talked, I realized that, no, she certainly DID remember me after all. So that made me feel pretty good. Then it occurred to me that she was probably just being nice by saying that she didn't remember when she really did. But that didn't hold water either as we talked quite a while in depth about lots of things. She just wasn't like that. She's pretty straightforward and means what she says. It took me quite a while to realize that she truly HAD forgotten about my stuttering. Even to this day I find that amazing - but more true than I had ever realized. ** I ** was the one out of step with the rest of the world, not her. I had let my stuttering become SOOO important in my life and very few other people ever gave it much thought. It's hard to admit you're wrong about things, especially when your belief is so ingrained in your very being. But such is the case. I learned an important lesson that day. Regarding your question about being happy that people had forgotten, no, I've never really thought about it that way at all. Stuttering has been so influential in my life that I'm happy to talk about it any time, any place, with anybody. I know not many people share that view, but as you well know, we're all so different. And that's just me. And no, not EVERYONE had forgotten about it. But almost no one put much importance on it. Certainly not one percent as much as I did! Good question, Kelly! I hope you're enjoying the conference. Russ


Last changed: 09/12/05