To Those Who Find My Illness ‘Hard To Understand’ When They See Me Smiling

By Tiffany Early in The Conversation.

My husband and I had a conversation about how others perceive my illness the other day. It wasn’t a confrontational conversation — it was more the random musings that happen when you’re waiting for dinner to come out of the oven. Joe mentioned that a mutual friend had once said to him (not an exact quote), “I understand Tiffany’s illness, and I think people believe she’s sick. It’s just hard for them to understand when they see her out and she’s smiling and bubbly.”

Hmm. OK, I’m typically the great empathizer, so I can try to understand what others see. I can understand to a degree that it’s difficult for people to see a 30-something with a loud voice and ridiculous laugh and reconcile that with the stories they’ve heard about me being ill. I suppose I can understand how it’s all confusing.

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