My Hands are Working

        It is true that laughter is the best medicine but work is a close second.  My cancer is gone, no more freight trains in the middle of the night for me, but the voodoo cure left me with neuropathy in my hands and feet.  My feet are pretty tough, they have carried me well (ha ha!) over the years and I have not been particularly good to them.  I wear sandals all the time.  They are my shoe of choice and I will happily wear them in the snow, in the rain, while welding in my shop.  I have big feet, size 13D and they are not comfortable in boots.  They give me no pain now but are pretty numb, especially the bottoms.  I awake in the morning and I am not sure whether they are even there.  I begin each day by moving my toes and doing little feet exercises to get the blood moving and my feet working.
    There is no good exercise for my hands.  They always hurt.  It really does feel as though I were stirring a bucket full of cut glass with them, maybe even with electrodes in the bucket. It is like I am getting shocked all the time.  They are never comfortable but maybe tolerable when I wear my rabbit fur-lined gloves. I wear them to sleep and most of the day.  I am recognizable.  I am the welder with fur-lined gloves!
     I am working now.  I have begun this year with two jobs at the same time and my shop is full of steel.
Gates and panels and railings are all over and I am excited to see the activity, to see me doing things again.
Creating stuff.  I get lost in this work and the day flies by and I don't give my hands much thought.  Steel needs moving and welding and thought about and that is what I am doing.  I forget about my hands.
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