But the more I talk, the more I realize: it is a part of me, and it always will be. I don’t need to put it down. I don’t need to let it go or pretend that none of it happened. I don’t need to force it inward and use it as a tool to punish myself. I just need to greet it with care. I need to recognize it for what it is: the thing that made me who I am. Someone who is trying, today, to be a little better than I was yesterday.