Betsey – I am glad you are still on that walk not towards, but with peace. If my gift is precise analysis, yours is giving a voice to so many who are struggling with the same issues and dealing with the same questions, but don’t have your amazing gift of self-expression. Reading your posts is realizing that one is not alone, that the struggle is worthwhile, that one person can, single-handedly, change her world, and touch many lives and hearts on her journey. And that there is peace around the corner of the road, and over the brow of the hill. Peace, but also new and exiting adventures. It has been a privilege to witness, and I have learned so much. Thank you.
I’ll close with a poem I found while reading up something completely unrelated, which I at first actively tried to discard, but which followed me home like a lost puppy and finally contentedly rolled up in a corner of my brain, intending to stay. Posted not for you, who is far beyond its reach, but for me, as a reminder.
After A While
After awhile you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul and you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't always mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises
You begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build your roads on today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans and futures have ways of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much so you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure, you really are strong, and you really do have worth. And you learn
