I’ve almost finished Abby’s new book, though it wasn’t delivered until two hours ago. This is why I am awake at nearly 2am when I should be sleeping. Then again, 2am wake-ups are not uncommon.
My eyes are almost failing, but my ears are not. I hear a yelp in the next room, realizing that Dan must have stepped on his other girl, Miko, in the course of carrying out his wandering, nocturnal ways. I turn toward the commotion in a panic, but stop just in time to watch and listen as he apologizes and comforts her… saying how sorry he was, how it was an accident.
(c) Alex Masi
What a long way he’s come since the day I found him sitting on the back deck – sobbing uncontrollably – because that time was no accident. He has carried too many stories that he never wants to tell. The story of that day is one of them. He had not yet learned to trust himself as much as she trusted him.
Softened with love, she laid her head into his hand. She knows how he feels, even if he never uttered a word.
She is my teacher, I am her student. I feel blessed to witness this exchange, this evolution, this process…this outcome.
If only Miko could teach us all… especially the others who, too, carry the stories they never want to tell.
There’s nothing to feel guilty about when love is exchanged between everyone involved. Trust starts with yourself. Lean into it when others give it to you. Don’t take it for granted.
Miko does it naturally. Dan had to do the work. I provide reinforcements and gather the stories as we go.
My work is to tell these stories, no matter how hard it may be. That’s where my own teachers come in…
Thanks, Abby, for the push and permission to tell the stories we are all afraid to tell. If the world could be your student, we’d all be better for it. I want you to know I wrote at Bar’s today, much like I did last week and the week before. Thanks to you and Bar, my book is no longer a ‘some day’ thing. I hear your words each time I sit down and do the work: “Write like no one is watching. And start with the chapter called ‘Guilt’.”
I am blessed to witness my own outcome as well.
Very, very blessed.
I’ll keep gathering the stories as we go.