That was the thing: Once, the difference between light and dark had been basic. One was good, one bad. Suddenly, though, things weren’t so clear. The dark was still a mystery, something hidden, something to be scared of, but I’d come to fear the light, too. It was where everything was revealed, or seemed to be. Eyes closed, I saw only the blackness, reminding me of this one thing, the most deep of my secrets; eyes open, there was only the world that didn’t know it, bright, inescapable, and somehow, still there.

Call it crazy, or just chicken salad.

After all, it's all kinds of things that make up a life, right? The big, like falling in love and spending time with your family, and the little....like blow drying your hair, applying concealer, and cursing those magazine inserts. It all counts. It has to.

…It’s not just where you go, but how you choose to get there.

Told you. Everything sounds better in the car wash.

Everything, in the end, comes down to timing. One second, one minute, one hour could make all the difference.

This is what daughters did. They left, and came home later with lives of their own.