Writing that doesn’t come easy — or go down smooth.
Trying protects our ego. Doing risks our pride. Done reshapes our life.
One slow day at the shelter. One unassuming dog. One promise in the rearview mirror.
The cardboard boxes sagged under their own weight. He opened one—an unwilling confession tumbling out as rusty bolts and forgotten washers, still bright from some long-abandoned plan.
I spent years bending myself into shapes that fit other people’s expectations. At fifty, I realized the contortions weren’t worth the applause.
