I’ve come a long way, and yet it still feels like I have forever to go. Some years it’s easier, some are harder. Felt like acknowledging that it’s been 10 years since the trauma is a good way of showing myself how much better I have become.

And now, a little over a year later, here I am on my birthday. I’m 47 today. It’s a Monday. I had to work. That’s how birthdays go when you’re older. The world doesn’t stop to help you celebrate with whimsy.