We’re sitting around the table. Laughter echos and we all share glances that feel like the end of a good chapter. The kind of story you never want to finish. You don’t even want to keep writing in order to soak up every feeling and every character and every piece that led up to this point of the plot. You’re feeling tired of trying and that’s okay too. You rest in the shadows of the story that takes away characters you deemed as hero’s. You beg the storyteller to pause. Just wait. Pleading out, let me breathe for a second, could you? The world doesn’t let up. That’s why we aren’t here forever. And loss is proof that love is bigger. Take the story in your hands and reread it when you need to feel stronger. Trace it back to every moment that you held still. Hear that laughter and look into everyone’s eyes. See mountains and oceans behind them. Close it back up when you’ve had enough. Let it be loud and soft and unfair and beautiful and overwhelming and sacred. Float back to the peace that was once given to you without question. Remember that every human being had a chance to smile in this story. -AMT©️