Upon arriving home, Ruby, Cindy’s daughter, was greeted by her mom proudly holding up her new painting, like a fisherman showing off a prize-winning fish. Ruby let out a chuckle.

“That has to be the most disturbing one yet, good job!” she said as she went in for a high five.

“Glad to get that one out of my head,” Cindy replied.

Three years ago, Cindy was lying in a hospital bed with her hands strapped to her side. She was deeply confused and hallucinating. In her mind, she had been kidnapped by an evil company that was experimenting on her. Gabe, Cindy’s husband, stayed with her the whole time, explaining that the doctors were trying to help her. Cindy would trust him, but not for long. Her memory seemed to reset every 30 seconds. Whenever the doctors entered the room, she would kick and scream as hard as she could. Even though she couldn’t walk, she put up a fight.

“Cindy has Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome,” the doctor explained, “a condition similar to dementia. It causes short-term memory loss, confusion, hallucinations, and loss of motor skills.”

“What can we do about it? What is the cure?” Gabe asked. The doctor hesitated, “There is no cure. There are plenty of treatments, but they aren’t guaranteed to work, especially with how bad it’s already gotten.” With that, the doctor recommended a rehab facility and medication and sent the family on their way.

Cindy went to a physical rehab facility and signed up for various types of therapy. While in rehab, she left her delusional state. She was finally able to understand what was wrong by writing her diagnosis down on a sticky note by her bed and reading it every night. She started walking again with the help of a walker, and eventually, she was discharged from the rehab facility.

Three years later, Cindy was with her family, grocery shopping.“I think it’s time for the wheelchair,” Cindy sighed. Her legs were shaking, and she looked as if her feet were glued to the floor. As she waited for Gabe to get her wheelchair, she sat on the cold concrete floor of the grocery store with Ruby. She stayed completely silent, feeling shame and embarrassment slowly closing in.

“I thought I could do it,” she whispered, “I shouldn’t have to use that stupid chair anymore.” Cindy looked around nervously, making sure nobody could see her sitting on the floor. Gabe came back, and Cindy got into her chair. The store’s setup was hard to navigate with a wheelchair. The aisles were small, and the displays were placed inconveniently. As much as she tried, she couldn’t help but knock over a few things. She looked over her grocery list to try to hide her embarrassment.

The look of pity was unmistakable. As Cindy moved through the store, every person she passed stared. Other shoppers offered her help, using the same tone you would use when talking to a stray dog.

“I feel like a zoo animal,” she said, “I hate the feeling of being watched.”

When she got home, she felt like she had just run a marathon. The wheelchair was folded and put in the corner of the living room. “Can someone move the wheelchair to the closet?” Cindy asked. When asked why, she replied, “That chair is a reminder of everything that I am not and never will be.” The wheelchair was moved to the closet with a sticky note on the door that read, “Don’t leave without the wheelchair,” written in red Sharpie.

Later that day, Ruby noticed that Cindy was feeling down, so she decided to revive one of their old family traditions. At least once a week, Cindy, Gabe, and Ruby would all sit together and listen to any music, new or old. They hadn’t done this since Cindy initially got sick. Ruby noticed a list of song titles written on a sticky note on the wall. “Possum Kingdom” by The Toadies was at the top of the list. As soon as Ruby played the song, both of her parents rushed to the room.

“How did you know I wanted to listen to this?” Cindy exclaimed as she danced into the room. Gabe followed after her and immediately cued the next song.

When the song “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” by The Smashing Pumpkins started playing, she stopped dancing. Noticing this, Ruby paused the music.

“No wait, keep playing it.” After the song was over, she paused for a moment, then asked, “We went to Austin together, it was for one of Ruby’s choir things, right?” Excitedly, Gabe and Ruby said she was right; she hadn’t remembered that before. They had gone to Austin, Texas, a few months before Cindy got sick. When they brought it up she had no memory of it.

As they were all getting tired, Ruby gave the last suggestion for the night, “High and Dry” by Radiohead. Cindy went silent again, but this time, a sullen silence. Ruby and Gabe just assumed she was just tired until they noticed she was crying.

“I did this to myself, didn’t I?” Cindy asked. Confused, Gabe asked what she was talking about. “I had a panic episode? I threw up all my food. That’s why I have Wernicke?” Cindy asked. Gabe and Ruby froze; they didn’t know how they were gonna tell her she was right.

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is usually caused by severe alcoholism, but it can also be caused by malnourishment. Cindy had always struggled with mental health, she has severe anxiety, PTSD, and clinical depression. For most of Cindy’s adult life, before she developed Wernicke’s, she would have month-long periods where she couldn’t leave the house or even get out of bed because of debilitating panic attacks. She couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. During these periods, she would often lash out at her family when they tried to get her to go to therapy or take medication. No matter how hard Gabe tried, Cindy said she’d rather live like that than get help.

One morning, Cindy woke up completely changed. It seemed like she suddenly was living in a completely new reality. She was hallucinating, and she would forget things within a few seconds of getting told that her personality was completely different, and her eyes looked like they were vibrating. Gabe called an ambulance, and Cindy would never return to normal again.

Now, Cindy isn’t upset about the new life she has, she embraces it. Before, she lived so much of her life feeling miserable and scared, but now she tries to live every day to the fullest. She takes care of her mental health and has never been as happy as she is now.

Sitting in the living room, Cindy sets the mood for her newest painting. Incense is burning, Nirvana is playing loudly through the TV speakers, her paint palette is filled with all the colors she could need, and a blank canvas is sitting in front of her. It’s time to paint, but this one will be different. A few hours later, Ruby walks into the living room to find her mom covered in paint and staring at her newly finished painting.

“Can I see the finished product?” Ruby asks while sitting down on the paint-stained couch next to her mom. Cindy tilts the canvas to show her, but instead of a dark and disturbing painting like Ruby was expecting, it was the exact opposite.

A brightly colored painting of a bookshelf filled with books and records, and an easel with a blank canvas, lines a wall covered in paintings, photos, and sticky notes. Cindy stands in the center holding her cane, with Gabe and Ruby sitting in the background on a paint-stained couch.

“This is what I hope my future looks like. I think it’s time to start focusing on the future instead of dwelling on the past,” Cindy said, admiring her painting.

“I think this one has been the best one yet, good job!” Ruby said as she hugged her mom. They hung the painting on the wall next to the door with a sticky note beneath it that reads: “Every day is a blessing, remember that.”