My Daughter Gave Me Earbuds for My Birthday—A Veteran at Work Took One Look and Went Pale

in this smaller, safer version of my life.

Still grateful for Curtis and the wisdom to listen when someone who cares about you says, “Something’s wrong.”

Still choosing, every single day, to survive.

Because survival, I’ve learned, is its own kind of victory.

And some days, that has to be enough.