Do you think about grace when you get dressed in the morning? Has rising from your armchair to move into another room involved much thought beyond `I’m getting a cup of tea now’? Have you considered the role dignity plays in your moves? Over the last 5 years I certainly have.

Acquiring the symptoms of a progressive condition takes some getting used to but why do so many of us feel the need to cloak these changes in an ugly cape of lies (to ourselves and others), excuses and denial? Why do we cling to the old normalcy so frantically? And what harm are we doing to ourselves in the process?.

When is it time to decide that walking everywhere is no longer a viable option and using a wheelchair is?