Like many others, I picked up a lot of beliefs about myself in childhood. Kids can be cruel, and from the outside, it seems like some people make it through unscathed, as if they have a nice Teflon coating.

I’m sure you’re curious as to when I finally succumbed to my adoration, and finally asked her out. See, that’s kind of the complexity about love, it’s rarely just about the feelings of love that allow you to be or be with an amazing partner.

A sharp pencil poised in my trembling hand, to stab my enemy in the throat, if necessary.

Winter 2016, I decided to unfasten the parachute and use my wings to fly. It was right after work one day when I got a call from my boss asking why I was always signing out an hour early.

You see an island feels exactly like that. It’s a Simon and Garfunkel song in living color, with huge trees and a stretch of Quartermaster Harbor that lays placid like a challenge.