I have spent a considerable amount of my prime years writing about people who hurt me, betrayed me, ranting, venting, and bleeding out pain. I lost a lot of blood in the process. Some of it belonged to blood relations too. But somewhere along the way, I forgot about the people who genuinely loved me. Even before I got married. The people who stayed without demanding anything dramatic in return. This goes out to my people. Some who do not live close to me anymore, but never forgot about me, even when I hardly bothered to check on them the way I should have. This is an apology to all those people. This is for the person who has been my best friend for years. Someone who talks his heart out, never stops, never judges me, and never thinks twice before offering help. I was always the opposite. I hated long conversations. I preferred silent companionship over endless talking. Even when the other person wanted to pour his heart out, his pain out, I was mostly just a listener. Hmm. Yes. True. ...
You aren't getting any younger. Every year, life hands you something. A lesson you never asked for. A challenge so brutal it bends your ego in half. A memory so beautiful it keeps you alive on your worst days. Or a warning. A cold reminder that time is not slowing down for anybody, and neither is death. That’s been my life for years now. Every year, a new battle arrives at my doorstep. Different face. Same war. At this point, hardship doesn’t feel unfamiliar anymore. It feels scheduled. Expected. Almost intimate. Sometimes I wonder if God is preparing me for something far worse that lies ahead. Or maybe He’s forcing me to become someone capable of surviving it. Either way, I wake up grateful that I still get to breathe beside the people I chose to love, not just the people I happened to share blood with. This year, I made some of the hardest decisions of my life. Not emotionally charged, hasty, mindless decisions. Permanent ones. This was no longer about compromise. It was about bo...