It's All About The People

I never would have made it through this horrific journey without people. As much as I may have thought I was an island before Parker got ill, what I have leaned is this: to really get through the night, it's all about the people.


Parker and I went to visit my friends who live out west of Austin today. I thanked them for always being there for me, and for their quiet, constant support. Throughout the last five months their home has been open to me whenever I needed it. Although I only got out there for two very short visits, I knew, if I needed to, I could walk through their door, drop my suitcase on the floor, and take a nap on their couch for three days. They wouldn't have blinked an eye. And these are friends I hadn't seen for 30 years. Forever friends.


Another good friend sent this poem to Parker yesterday. It is simple gestures like this that stayed with us, gave us courage, and helped keep us strong. Thank you.



Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley