The Passing Storm

by Christine Nolfi

“Qui n’avance pas, recule.” A French proverb, one of Connor’s favorites. Who does not move forward, recedes. The proverb meant that life offers us the choice to evolve and accept the changes that inevitably come. Resist those changes, and we devolve into something less—a mere shadow of our true potential.

A startling discovery: it was easier to hate the idea of a person than the genuine article.

We breathe life into our memories by celebrating those loved ones in conversation.

We are each many people in a lifetime. We slip through versions of ourselves, no more staying in place than a fast-moving river.

That was the problem with anger. After it hoisted your common sense out the window, it made you behave badly.

“We’re all children of light and darkness,” she said. “It’s up to us to choose which side wins out.”