Maybe I expected more depth from our relationship. We could never talk candidly with each other like I speak with my daughters today. It was an unspoken rule. On one of those trips back home, I remember vividly the day she suddenly shared a confession.

I learned to celebrate the small wins, the light in the darkness, the time spent in gratitude for the life and health I have. I do not feel like a sick person anymore; I am a recovering person.

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with power. Even the word felt uncomfortable. The thought of having it made me sprint in the opposite direction because I didn’t know how I would respond if I had a lot of power. In other words, if I had genuine power in my life, what would I do with it? I wasn’t sure, and that scared me enough to leave the subject alone for years.