A real benefit of anonymity -- and -- Why I wasn't allowed to watch the Movies of the Week

Yesterday's announcement (and, no, thank you, not the announcement of my daughter's 23rd birthday, although that's difficult enough in its own way) shows one of the unquestioned benefits of anonymous blogging: It was cathartic for me to say what I said and I was grateful for the nice, supportive messages in the Comments. Thank you.

I certainly can't go around broadcasting that I'm experiencing any technical difficulties to people in the real world: I'm self-employed. Why would you trust your business to someone who is facing a serious health issue -- someone who may become incapacitated and will almost certainly be distracted? No, excessive candor in real life could be very problematic for a guy like me.

Long Suffering Spouse knows. My children still at home know. I've told one friend. And Tuesday afternoon, as it happened, my pastor finally came by the Undisclosed Location to look at the boxes of books that were found among my late colleague's stored files. I'd only just gotten the news from my internist and Long Suffering Spouse wasn't done with school yet and I just had to tell someone -- so my poor pastor knows too.

(Don't let anyone tell you it's easy being a priest; I've come to realize they get saddled with these things -- from out of nowhere -- all too often.)

But there is one funny aspect of this that I've noticed already, and it goes back to my TV-watching childhood.

Back in the day, when there were only three networks, there were a flurry of "Movies of the Week" -- made for TV efforts, never intended for theatrical release. Many of these focused on some loathsome disease.

I couldn't watch these movies.

If the protagonist broke out in green spots, I would feel the green spots in my own skin, ready to erupt to the surface at any moment... probably by the second commercial break. If it was a purple rash, I could feel that too. Shooting pains where? I had those as well, and in the same places. For my own good, I had to stop watching this stuff.

I was reminded of this Tuesday night when, for the first time, I began to feel a dull ache in my stomach. Sort of like the stomachaches Charlie Brown always complained of on the playground. It has nothing to do with my medical condition; I'm quite sure of that, although I'll mention it to the doctor when I see him.

I'm pretty sure this new sensation has much more to do with the old TV Movies of the Week: I know there's a problem, and now I feel it too.

Well, I never said I wasn't a practicing coward....