Always You and Me

by Dani Atkins

I learnt that you can’t outrun grief because it always knows where to find you, but you can keep yourself so busy that it can only squeeze into the gaps of your life, instead of burying you under an avalanche of sadness.

How stupid we were for thinking we had all the time in the world to make that dream a reality.

Panic is a strange dish that goes from a moderate simmer to a raging boil almost without you noticing.

my fear of losing the people I loved had a habit of blindsiding me.

‘Somewhere out there, there’s a perfect guy for you. And he’s going to be strong and healthy, and he’s going to want to give you all the things that Adam and I couldn’t. There’ll be a houseful of children, and then grandchildren, and fifty years from now, when you’re sitting there holding his old, wrinkled hand, you’ll realise that walking away from me now was the best thing you ever did.’

‘Shit happens,’ I mumbled into her shoulder. ‘And when it does, it’s never to the people who deserve it.