I added it to the calendar.

My recovery still had work in it.

Returning home wasn’t medical clearance to hurry or discard supports I still needed.

I took my cane to the stairs and rested one hand on the banister.

Before surgery, I had walked these steps without counting.

Afterward, I had measured nearly everything in them: pain, distance, the number of movements required to reach somewhere safe.

That morning, I took the first step carefully.