I am proud of who I am becoming. There are bumps and potholes on my road. Sometimes I avoid them, sometimes Jim’s tire is almost on them, then I swerve and we make it. But sometimes there’s just no avoiding them, they sneak up on me as if disguised. I get jerked and jostled. Turned upside down until I can’t remember which way is up or whether up was the right way in the first place. Backwards feels like forwards as I try to get away. They are there to help me as much as to hurt me. To teach me what can’t be learned from words alone. To make me better. I don’t always succeed in these lessons. I fail and fail and fail, but sometimes when all I can think is that I’ll fail again, I finally get it, I succeed. I make it.

The world is full of potholes and I’ll probably hit every one of them til I get to the end. But I will get there and when I do I’ll look back at the road and be happy.