Eight years ago today, Dave and I met for the first time. It was a bolt of lightning out of the blue and the ensuing year was the most painful and, ultimately, happy year of my life. I’d been struggling just before we met and the well-intentioned words of friends and family seemed like life preservers thrown just out of my reach. Each day my awareness of what was missing in my life grew keener. I was reading a lot of poetry; I needed music.

I have music now and a wide future stretching out in every direction. It was always there, of course. I still believe you carry everything you need in life inside yourself, but it can be hard getting to the point where you trust yourself and those around you enough to bring it out.

It’s good to remember this now that I’ve been moping around for a while. Yeah, there’s some tough stuff going down, but at rock bottom, I love my life, where I am right now, and who I am with.