It is kind of hard to hold a lot in. But for me… it’s sometimes even harder to let it out.

I always thought I was different.

Now I felt like I was drifting, sucked down by an undertow, and too far out to swim back to the shore.

The chances we take, knowing no better than to fall or to stand back and hold ourselves in... protecting our hearts with the tightest of grips.

There was nothing, nothing to depend on. And why was I surprised?

It's not forever', she'd said, but to my mother, it might as well have been. She had make her choice, and this was it, where she felt safe, in a world she could, for the most part, control.

If something doesn't work exactly right, or maybe needs some special treatment, you don't just throw it away. Everything can't be fully operational all the time. Sometimes, we need to have the patience to give something the little nudge it needs.