Drowning

by T.J. Newman

Life is measured in birthdays. Graduations. Weddings. First steps. A first crush. A first kiss. Firsts, not lasts, are the tallies on a life’s scorecard. But as Will tucked a piece of her dark brown hair behind Shannon’s ear, he only thought of the lasts.

Strong women know loving someone is easy. Respecting them is a choice.

It didn’t matter if you died in a car crash or peacefully in your sleep at 102 or if you drowned in a plane at the bottom of the ocean. The end result would be the same. And that was all life was. Shifting the balance, every day, to make room for joy and grace in whatever circumstances you’ve got before your time runs out.

“Time is luck. You grab it. You hold on tight. And you be there. You have to be there for it. It’s going, with or without you. And no one knows for how long. No one knows.”