Life as an Extreme Sport

accurate sentiments

When the hour is upon us
And our beauty surely gone
No you will not be forgotten
No you will not be alone

And when the day has all but ended
And our echo starts to fade
No you will not be alone then
And you will not be afraid
No you will not be afraid

When the fog has finally lifted
From my cold and tired brow
No I will not leave you crying
And I will not let you down
No I will not let you down
I will not let you down

Now comes the night
Feel it fading away
And the soul underneath
Is it all that remains
So jus slide over here
Leave your fear in the fray
Let us hold to each other
Till the end of our days

When the hour is upon us
And our beauty surely gone
No you will not be forgotten
No you will not be alone

-Rob Thomas, Now Comes the Night

Surprises

Yesterday was the start of my academic year; I had a class then, and another today (Thursday, since technically the time stamp is going to read Friday). And,… it was hard. I had to field a lot of questions, repeatedly, about Mom, and I caught myself folding into shy, quiet, and withdrawn body language through-out the days. Be smaller, less conspicuous, just sort of hide and maybe it will all end.

But today, the larger class, more colleagues, the most amazing thing happened. Repeatedly, people walked in, looked around the room, did a double take when they saw me, and then lit up. Bright smiles, friendly and happy faces. Each one asked me how I was, almost everyone said they missed me, everyone said how happy they were to see me, they had been wondering if I would be back, hoping I would be back.

In two days, all the loneliness and isolation, the not fitting in or belonging, that plagued me all of last year, vanished. I felt welcomed and wanted, and… happy, to be on the receiving end of all that positive emotion.