Definitely Better Now

by Ava Robinson

was terrible at speaking from the heart. My heart was shy.

marry someone who brings out the best in you.” “That’s what everyone says.” “Okay, think about it this way. When you’re with someone, if you like yourself, then they’re good for you. If you don’t like yourself, then they’re not. I think it’s that simple.”

Men respected other men’s claims on a woman infinitely more than they respected a woman’s decision not to sleep with them.

“No. January eighteenth. It’s in a couple of weeks.

can’t believe it’s him. I keep seeing my father as he died, and in the back of my mind, that’s who I’m next to, not my beautiful, strong husband who never even got a cold.”

“You can be nostalgic for things you haven’t lived through. As long as it speaks to an essential part of you.”

“You can’t choose your family, and you can’t choose your baseball team. Not really.”

“You’d just say ‘It would mean so much if you could make it.’ It’s scary, I know. Of course it’s scary. But it gets easier every time you invite someone in.”

Sometimes it can feel like disloyalty, letting go of past versions of yourself.

I only have so many breaths, I want to take each one with intention.”