mom: why did everyone think you were depressed after yesterday's post?
me: i'm not sure. i'm not.
mom. yeah, i know.
me: i'm just really stressed.
mom. yeah. i know.
(though, to be fair, i'm extremely thankful for the concern and support. it is a gentle and good reminder for me that what i post here is such a particular sliver of the story that of course we as readers tend to extrapolate and interpret and fill in blanks and we don't always get it right--i certainly do it in reading the blogs of others. reading what someone chooses to present online does not mean we know them--for better or for worse).