December 2023, I bought Christmas presents thinking it would be my last time.
I wrapped each gift slowly. Wrote cards that said "think of me next year." Hugged my grandkids longer than normal.
I was 62 and my body was shutting down.
Waking up at 3am with my heart slamming against my chest. Forgetting my own daughter's name for 10 seconds. Getting lost driving to the grocery store I'd been going to for 15 years. Joints so swollen my wedding ring sat in a drawer.
Four doctors. Two MRIs. One CT scan. $14,000 in tests.
"Everything looks normal."
But I knew I was dying.