It did not feel triumphant.

It did not feel symbolic.

It felt, simply, present.

Warm, and real, and mine.

And as I walked down those steps into the rest of my life, I felt something I had not felt in more years than I wanted to count.

Complete, unshakeable freedom.

Chapter 15 — A Year in the Dark

I want to go back, now, and tell you about the year before that morning, because the morning was only ten minutes, and the year was the real work, and the year is the part that might actually help someone.