I don’t like anyone knowing anything about me that I didn’t choose to tell them.

My body was a machine, plain and simple. I worked it to stay strong; I fed it to keep it running.

But it was like a dance across a field strewn with razors, and I bled with every step I took.

More than most, I know the pain of surviving.

Brown bird welcomes white wave. Wander no more, dear traveler.

My heart should be breaking, too, but there comes a point when you’re so inured to loss that you no longer feel the lash.

His reply offers infinite solace in a single word. Always.