Because that’s the thing about the exact moment when you get somewhere that has required effort: There’s a freeze-frame instant of total fulfillment, when every expectation has been met and the world is perfect.

Forgiving is not an easy thing to do.

Being in the dark, there's a real weight to it. It's heavy.

I used my captors names every chance I had. It was intentional, a way of reminding them that I saw them, of pegging them, of making them see me in return.

Friendships that don't fit my life anymore have faded away, and new ones have come in.

I'm afraid of elevators, because they are an enclosed space, but I get in.

I'm not afraid of IED's, bullets, mortars.