I’m grateful for…

Endings. Summers used to go by so fast for me, until this one. Three months of both healing and heartbreak. Mending and tearing the fabric of grief. Joy like I haven’t known in almost a decade.

Already, I grieve as leaves land across my windshield as I drive through my city. It is as if those fallen canopies of gold are the richness earned from June until now.

I am grateful for the ending of a season that taught me one thing above all else: courage. The courage to go distances I didn’t believe I could risk. The frequent courage to accept the person I am instead of the illegitimate expectation of perfection.

I am grateful for the ending of silence. The long-awaited celebration of a bounce in my step and an extra smile for a stranger.

I am grateful for the ending of so many years spent trying desperately to hide myself, like a lamp kept under a table for fear it might be noticed.

Endings are good. And endings make for some of the best beginnings. And our story isn’t over. We’re just turning a page.