Terry,

I love the way you juxtapose your "real life" image with Terry the Superhero. What a terrific idea! I wish I'd thought of it.

But I'm afraid you will have to wait until Netflix finishes making the movie about me first.

I accept your bet of angina, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, bursitis, CFS/ME, hypothyroidism, failing kidneys, sleep apnea, GERD, sciatica, bilateral S1 and SI issues, rotator cuffs, and God only knows what else,

and I raise you hypertension (high blood pressure), pre-diabetes, hypothyroidism (my TSH has been up to the high 20's; what's yours?), tendenitis, spondiolysthesis, spinal foraminal narrowing, bulging and herniated discs, cracked vertebrae, and an annular tear -- all in the lumbar region of L4, L5, and S1 due to an auto accident 3 years ago in which someone totaled my car on the freeway, with me in it, but at least I'm finally off the damn walker! (No more swing dancing, tho...)

GERD, liver disease, cellulitis, breast cancer (in remission) and ensuing lumpectomy and radiation (they mean business; you're not "done" until you are burnt to a crisp), high cholesterol, severe sleep apnea (the CPAP stares at me every night; I'll get there, I'll get there; my little bro died of it two years ago), OCD, alcoholism (in remission), drug addiction (in remission), PTSD and agoraphobia after a recent armed robbery (he got the purse; I got the cold, metal revolver barrel to my forehead),

COPD, a nearly detached retina (surgically saved in the brink of time), diagnosed leukemia that spontaneously changed its mind and went away, broken leg, broken nose, acne (still! I thought we had a deal; I'd put up with the gray hair and you'd take away the zits; you lied to me!), aggravated attack (assault) for being Jewish in front of an alt-Right (just after cancer radiation), four burglaries, identity theft, multiple mutilated hearts, and, oh, did I mention major depression? I mean, wouldn't you be?

(I know there was no grammatical reason for those two paragraph breaks in the middle of one sentence, but I thought readers might need a respite.)

After having cheated death numerous times in the last 4 years (yes, most of that in the last 4 years), I now have to wonder at the "universal intelligence" (?) that decided to keep me on the planet this long when, IMHO, I think we all would have been much better off if Malcolm X, MLK, Anne Frank, Nelson Mandela, John Lennon, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, or John Coltrane were still here instead.

Nothing to do but try to unearth what I'm supposed to be doing here still. We should talk sometime. Get well, get unhooked, and get out of that bed, you lazy bum!

<3