Two Years Ago

Two years ago, around this very date I was laying on a park bench in the dark of night beside the ocean in Japan, crying my guts out. It seems like so long ago, but at the same time, that pain is something that you never forget. It is the kind of pain, that makes your stomach fall out of your body and your chest constrict like a fist, squeezing you to death. It was the end of everything and the beginning of everything new. It was like walking while being dead. It was breathing when you didn't want to. It was horrible, unexplainable, hurtful, and necessary. It changed me forever, and that is ok. If I hadn't been there, I couldn't appreciate where I am now. I wouldn't be as thankful, or as strong, and as happy as I am now. Being a survivor is empowering. It's the club you never wanted to join, but you didn't have a choice. Survivor...I like the way that sounds! I am grateful for my life.
Laura


Claire in Elizabethtown, "I want you to get into the deep beautiful melancholy of everything that's happened,"