I'm about to be 42 years old, and from where I'm sitting, any stress or anxiety is all but gone. I'm fortunate to be around people who understand and accept me. As for the person I am, I most definitely am a person who stutters. That's not something I try to get away from. It's just the way it is. So in that sense, it does define me - as does most everything else that can be ascribed to me - and there's no "real" me hidden by it. The person I want to be is this person - who happens to be stuttering. No need to run from something if we already know what it is. :)