Every Last Word

by Tamara Ireland Stone

“The trick is to recognize your mistakes, take what you need from them, and move on.”

I like to know where I stand with people, and I figure I owe them the same courtesy.

I think that even when good, totally normal, completely healthy things happen in your life,

“You seem determined to find a way to make them unhealthy.”

“I didn’t go there looking for you. I went looking for me.” My voice is soft, low, and shaky. “But now, here you are, and somehow, in finding you, I think I’ve found myself.”

These walls heard me when no one else could. They gave my words a home, kept them safe. Cheered, cried, listened.

Changed my life for the better. It wasn’t enough. But they heard every last word.

Feeling all the pain of letting them go. And knowing I did the right thing.