A dark, heavy weight was lifted last Thursday at this time. Needless to say, it was a huge relief and while I can’t say my life is all rainbows and lollipops, it is far better than it was prior to 5 p.m. last Thursday.

I went back to Buffalo Wild Wings just before 3 p.m. last Thursday. I pulled into the far right spot for takeout orders and sat in my car. I passed the time by watching an episode of Silk Stalkings on my iPhone (isn’t technology grand?) and listening to WHB-AM, one of the two sports talk radio stations in Kansas City. It was close to freezing outside, so I had to run the car from time to time to use my seat warmer.

I saw a lot of the familiar faces go in and out of the restaurant. Nobody noticed me. And I mean nobody. I was so invisible that Michael Pinkerton, one of the shift leaders who also is in my fantasy football league, walked right in front of my car without noticing me.

At 4:30, I finally honked my horn loud enough to catch Morgan Gilliland’s attention, but she didn’t know it was me. I finally messaged her on Facebook and revealed it was me who honked at her. She told me to come on but I kept resisting.

I texted Liz a couple of times and told her I was sitting in my car outside. She told me that I should go in, but I told her I was dead scared.

By time it got close to 5, I was really crying. I was crying so hard the tissues would get wet very quickly.

Then Liz got out of a car with Sean and someone else. I honked, and Liz noticed. She came to my car and I told her what was going on. She tried to calm me down, tried to explain there was nothing wrong, that it was all in my mind and not real.

A couple of minutes later, Brittany and Lisa came up behind Liz and noticed me. They too were wondering what I was doing in my car. They told me it was fine, just don’t get emotional. I agreed to come in.

I sat at the bar since Brittany and Lisa were working there. I ended up staying for five hours. I did play trivia. I did not get emotional, nor did I eat too much. I even made a run to QuikTrip on Barry Road at 8:30 for pretzels, although Brittany ended up sharing hers with me.

I wanted to stay until closing, but since I had the long trip to Smith Center the next day, I left at 10. I left feeling better than I had in a long time.

I told everyone I would definitely be back no later than the day after Christmas. I’m hoping to go back one of the next two weekends at least to pop my head in.