Sometimes I feel like we're a knot, too tangled to be taken apart.

And I know it's over, but it's the same way I felt when you broke up with me.

I thought about the cameras following me in the terminal and pictured my family watching my entrance on TV. I hoped they’d be proud.

Maxon, this is my gift to you. I promise I will make every effort to see these girls through your eyes. Not the eyes of a queen, or the eyes of your mother, but yours. Even if the girl you choose is of a very low caste, even if others think she has no value, I will always listen to your reasons for wanting her. And I will do my best to support your choice.

My shoes I got to pick. I chose worn-out red flats. I figured I should make it clear from the start that I wasn’t princess material.

I pranced around the room like a blind moose, but what I lacked in grace I made up for in effort.

But I guessed she would never stop wanting more for me, more from me. Maybe that's what mothers did.