Flash, our Miniature Dachshund, lived 16 years in this house and left a hole that doesn’t make sense on paper. This is an honest account of what that actually means.

After a long break from the gym, I’m back under the bar at 55 — and the thing that surprised me most wasn’t how much strength I’d lost. It was how honest the whole process is.

A diagnosis doesn’t change who you are. But it does change how much energy you spend pretending to be someone else — and that’s where things get complicated.