A Warning
While it may not have been the longest long life, or the best life, or the life with the least humiliations and general foolishness, it was mine. The scars and sorrows were many, and there are moments of absolute pain I will likely never have the courage to revisit, but I hope that you have also seen my absolute joy. For every second that I rubbed my heart against barbed wire, I bathed her in milk and honey. It’s true that some tragedies are unavoidable, natural disasters. It is also true that the ones we love are capable of unimaginable cruelties, and terrible violence. Do not let this poison you. Do not let the bite of a bad dog make wolves of us all. I urge you to remember that hell is not other people; it is a cut that never closes. Avoiding damnation is as simple as finding just one being who will hold your hair, while you lick your wounds. My mother, so fierce, so loving, gave me advice that seems destined to be scripture, and so I leave it with you: Forgive. Be generous. Remember everything.