Seven Hours, Seven Lifetimes

No one means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean, for words are slippery and thought is viscous. -- Henry Adams

You say that I will experience great pain down this path that I tread. With fear and concern in your eyes, you caution me, want to save me from that hurt. I didn't know how to respond, not when you were so close. I didn't know how to speak... I know that I will experience great pain; that is life. I would not ask to live in a glass menagerie but would rather shatter it to the floor and walk barefoot on the shards. I want to touch that pain, that hurt. I know it is coming, and I accept it. I won't live less, and I won't love less; I won't be debilitated. I am stronger than even I give myself credit.

There is beauty in light but also in dark. I will immerse myself in what I find beautiful.