I bared my teeth in a smile. Out loud, I told the girl with the soft cheeks and pretty smile that she was a badass—strong as an ox, smarter than many, and muscular in all the right places—and she should never forget that. The confidence that my dad had constantly drilled into me flooded back in full-force. He was gone, but what he taught me didn’t have to be.
🥺❤️
