So finally, I decided that the best response — the safest — was none at all.

With my mom, when someone was gone, they were gone. She didn't waste another minute thinking about them, and neither should you.

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.

I think I'm way too much of a control freak to co-author anything with anyone. I have a hard enough time writing with myself! I admire people that can do it, but it's not for me.

I mean, to me, freaking out is different. More of a running away, not telling anyone what's wrong, slowly simmering until you burst kind of thing.

This was our common ground, the secret we shared but never spoke aloud.

but accepting help doesn‟t have to mean giving up control.