“… You held onto me tightly with tiny arms around my neck
Sobbing and sweating in your fleece pajama monkey suit that I bought you when you got your last report card
Your sniffly nose burying deeper and deeper against the side of my neck just below my ear,
My hair spilling all over you and giving you the perfect hiding place
Your brother refusing to look at me
Refusing my touch
Breathing heavily
And staring at the floor

You cried
He cried
I cried
Motionless”

The hugest price I could ever pay for my freedom.

My teenager got up with his phone in hand, walked away, and went to his room.  He shut the door.  I was scared.  I was nervous.  I thought out loud, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I should go after him or give him time. “  My youngest said, “Give him time.” 

I thought out loud, “I hope he will forgive me.”  My youngest nodded and said, “he will.”

An hour or so later we were piled on the couch, laughing, and watching a sit-com.  It was like the whole thing hadn’t happened.  Yet it definitely had.

The most difficult conversation of my life turned out to be the best conversation of my life.

Why?
Because we walk lighter in truth.
We smile brighter in clarity.

And to quote my friend, mentor, author, and publisher, Jeff Brown:

We rise in unison.