Within Arm's Reach

by Ann Napolitano

even when the worst thing imaginable happens, the individuals involved still survive.

I would be able to love, and, most importantly, respect my mother through him.

I realized, in that moment, that even though we were a family, we did not necessarily belong together. We did not necessarily work.

My effort to keep myself apart, to keep up the facade of perfection, is failing in every part of my life.

Is life made up of strands that link us all?