Underneath the Sycamore Tree

by B. Celeste

“I find that the books with the saddest endings are the best because they make us feel. We don’t always get a happily ever after no matter how hard we work for it.”

Reality is ugly and painful and full of the kind of heartache that some books help you forget exist for a short period.

There are lots of quotes about time. Time is fleeting. Time is valuable. Time shouldn’t be wasted. The trouble with time is that we only think we have it. It’s an illusion—an excuse to linger in existence. Some people use it to be reckless; others use it to hold themselves back.

Disease is the monster in the dark. It lingers, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. It rears its ugly head and takes what it wants, when it wants. Yet there’s one disease that is worse than any kind of invisible illness in existence, and it is something the world is plagued with. Indifference.

The truth is you never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

For the first time in months, I feel human. It’s so foreign that I cry. Not because I’m in pain but because I don’t remember what it’s like not to be.

When you have a chronic condition, you spend a lot of your life being doubted by others. Not all diseases can be seen. In fact, a lot of them aren’t. That’s why invisible diseases can be so deadly—because nobody knows they’re there until it’s too late.

When a story comes from the heart, it’s going to gut you and cleanse you all at once. It’s therapeutic but also painful in ways that are hard to explain. You’re reliving moments you wish to forget.