“The more of your writing I read, the more I… I can’t even put it into words. Maybe three or four, times in my life I can say that. If my soul had a wrist I could cut to give you your time back, I would do it to well beyond weakness. Your ability to remain unbroken pales me, and I respect your strength. I doubt I myself could have endured such trials. I fear I would have caved quickly in fact. There was a time, not long enough ago, that violence became my sword, shield, blanket, and food. After that, there was no more torture, no more pain, no more hurt, and everything was easy. I regret that, but it did shield me from a great deal that would have hurt me in a past that until now seemed an incomparable nightmare… You are a much better person than I am, you started out better, and remain so. I can only hope one day I would be able to unfuk myself. I fear the time to start that process may have been long ago, but it sounds as good a path as any to a wandering man. Thank you for sharing of yourself.”
I am no better than you, just forced to contort in different ways, and squeezed to the point where I had only two choices: bitter insanity or make a commitment that, no matter how difficult, I would live my life in a way that one day far off in the distance I would be able to look back down upon all that has happened and feel grateful because it is what forced me to keep climbing to this beautiful vantage point.