For Five Years She Cared For Her Paralyzed Husband Until She Overheard Him Call Her His Free Servant

is curved inward, as though she is constantly bracing herself for the next crisis, the next demand, the next emergency.

Dark circles frame eyes that rest never seems to reach, no matter how many hours she sleeps.

And my hands reveal everything.

Raw from constant washing with hospital-grade soap. Calloused from lifting a body never meant to be carried alone. Shaped by wheelchair handles and hospital bed rails, the skin rough and permanently dry.

These are not the hands of a thirty-two-year-old woman. These are the hands of someone who has aged decades in just five years.

Once, my life was simple. Hopeful, even, in that naive way young people believe their dreams are guaranteed.

I met my husband, Lucas continue reading …