April 28th, 2025

Hello again, friends of the blog. I hope my entry today finds you all well. I’d love to start off today’s entry by talking about something thats been really bothering me lately: my stupid knee brace.

At first my knee brace and I got along great; it was always stuck to me, never to leave my left leg, providing rigidity and comfort through having a broken knee. But NOW, with me wanting more normalcy and independence, it wants to get annoying. The velcro sticks together, its too tight when it is on my leg, I can barely wear shorts over it, it gets hot so easily, I gotta keep my leg dead straight and lift it when adjusting my leg.

But without it, I can’t even stand on both feet. It is kind of a crazy feeling to me to be so dependent on something like a knee brace despite its discomforts. It really has interrupted my self expression, my sense of normalcy, and even just sitting down with friends or getting into a car. This all makes me very conscious of how people have to be dependent on medical tools and aides that are more uncomfortable and pervasive than a knee immobilizer. This consciousness is keeping me and my thoughts grounded, helping me realize that this injury isn’t nearly the end of my world and that I can deal with this.

I was actually just mentioning this to one of my friends, but it is interesting and almost fun to be experiencing life from this angle. The firsts that I get to have again, the fleeting feelings that I really am getting better every day, and how aware this all makes me of other people’s situations are just a few examples of why its fun. I also haven’t had to go anywhere or do anything, which is fun in its own weird way. I do plan on making the commute to class tomorrow, however, and am looking forward to that.

One last thing I wanted to touch on for today’s entry was my kendama club session yesterday. It was so great seeing my friends and doing something that I love to do, and I am so grateful to have that group and my ability to still play kendama. They even brought me a little chair and a stool to rest my leg on, so shoutout to the 3OH3 kendama boys for being a great part of my life.