Sure, there was no guarantee any of these things would actually happen as he envisioned. But maybe that wasn‟t the point.It was the planning that counted, whether it ever came to fruition or not.

And so we stood there in the kitchen, my mother and I, facing off over everything that had built up since June, when I was willing to hand myself over free and clear. Now I needed her to return it all to me, with the faith that I could make my own way.

There was something so heavy about the burden of history, of the past. I wasn't sure I had it in me to keep looking back.

I knew this feeling, the 2 a.m. loneliness that I'd practically invented.

If what you're asking is how I debated whether or not to love her the answer is I didn't. Not at all. It just happened. I didn't ever question it; by the time I realized what was happening, it was already done.

But risk is just part of relationships. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

The way I see it," she continued, "is that some things are just meant to be the way they are.