Life.
Life is amazing.
I’m amazing.
Those are my parents.
My parents are amazing.
There are other people in life.
All people love me.
Animals! I love animals! Also trees and grass and water.
Food is so good. Most of it. I’m suspicious of green stuff.
Sometimes my parents try to get me to do things I don’t want to do. Like eat green food I don’t like. Or sleep when I don’t want to sleep. Or be awake when I don’t want to be awake.
My parents might not be on my side.
Some animals do not like me. I still love most animals, though. Unless they sting me.
There are people I don’t know. They might not like me. Especially “strangers,” which is another way to say people I don’t know.
Some people I do know don’t like me. Especially the ones I’ve bitten.
I’ve learned how to say sorry, even if I don’t mean it.
Sometimes my parents don’t like me. They say they do, but I’m not dumb.
Life is mostly amazing, except for bad food, mean animals, people who bite me, and my parents when they try to boss or criticize me.
I’m still amazing. At least I think I am. Most of the time.
School is fun and full of friends. Everyone is my friend. There are also teachers, who are very much like parents, except nicer most of the time, but not always.
I like some people more than I like other people. The people I like are the good ones.
The teachers are getting more bossy. So are some of the kids. My parents worry about what I do at school, if I’m doing it right. They try to make me look right and talk right and dress right. Apparently school is a competition now.
My parents may be actively working against me. They are in cahoots with the teachers.
Life is sometimes amazing, but sometimes very boring.
I am not entirely amazing anymore. I guess I have some faults, things I need to “work on,” at least according to other people. Clearly not everyone likes me anymore. Some people don’t like me at all. Even people I haven’t bitten.
There are some things I am apparently not very good at, even some things I like to do. I am supposed to stop doing them, and to start focusing more on things other people think I’m good at.
My parents are mean. They might also be crazy.
The people I like and who also like me are my friends. But sometimes that changes.
I am becoming mean and “selfish.” I might also be crazy. According to adults. And they would know.
School is a place we go so that our parents can have free time to do whatever they want. And babysitters are so that parents can go do the stuff they tell us never to do. Parents love babysitters. So do I, for the most part. They’re usually just kids, but bigger.
I don’t think I like very many adults. And I don’t trust any of them. Except for maybe my one grandmother and my crazy uncle.
I will never be an adult. They’re old, ugly, and not very smart.
Life is not something I asked for.
I don’t know who I am or what I enjoy.
I need to leave home. This town. My current self, which is no longer amazing.
My parents will be happy when I move out.
School sucks, but it’s better than being at home.
My friends are the only people who get me.
My favorite grandmother and my crazy uncle both died. Life is not forever. It’s all very sad.
I am sad. Life is sad. Also, there’s a pretty good chance it’s meaningless.
Wow. Look at that person. They are really good to look at. I want to be close to them. A lot. Isn’t this an interesting development!
Life is not all bad.
I am spending a lot of time with this person. They are letting me be very close to them a lot. They are the only person in the world who really understands me.
Here’s a twist: My parents seem to like this person I like. And the person I like says my parents are great.
This person may be crazy.
I am going to be with this person a lot. I like myself when I’m with this person. And this person seems to feel the same way about me as I do about them. We are going to be persons together.
Life is pretty good.
School is over forever. Which is great, but also sad, because now that I don’t have school anymore, I really miss it. I have almost completely forgotten the bad parts. Like: What bad parts! School forever!
Turns out work is a lot like school, except it’s filled with adults. Luckily most of the adults there act like kids, so I don’t feel all that out of place.
My person likes it when I go to work. So do my parents. I will keep going to work. For now. Until I hit the lottery, which I probably will.
Work is harder than school. People are both meaner and nicer.
My person is, in fact, crazy. But now we’re married. And we are going to have a kid. So…yeah.
We have a kid. My person is crazier than ever. I am pretty sure I am crazy, too. P.S. The kid is amazing.
Life is not something I think about all that much. I’m too busy.
Our kid is getting bigger and is still mostly amazing. Except it doesn’t always do what we want it to do. But we love it so much sometimes it feels like pain.
My parents love my kid. They are better at taking care of it than I am. I have no idea how to take care of a kid. But I’m not going to do what my parents did, because look how screwed up they made me!
I don’t think I’m going to hit the lottery.
Work is fine.
I have friends still, but not like I used to. My “friends” are mostly just people I end up standing next to at the park, or they’re the parents of kids my kid prefers.
Being a parent is starting to feel impossible. Plus I still have to go to work and do laundry and make sure there is food for everyone. I should forgive my parents.
Work sucks, but it’s better than being at home.
Life is actually harder than I thought.
How did my parents survive this?
Apparently my parents were awesome. Are awesome. Who knew? I don’t think even my parents knew. Maybe I should tell them. I hope my parents will forgive me.
I am crazy and mean and bad at stuff. Most days I feel guilty about pretty much everything.
I am so sorry. I am so, so, so sorry. If I could apologize to everyone I’ve ever met I would. Especially to my parents. I mean it.
My kid is still amazing, but might also be turning crazy.
My person is still my person, because what else are we going to do at this point?
The people I was standing next to at the park are now my real friends, because we have been through some stuff.
Life is something to get through.
My kid has opinions about everything now. One of them is that me and and my person are probably bad people and definitely crazy.
I call my parents to apologize about once a month. I ask them to forgive me. They do. I say “I love you” a lot. So do they.
Some of my friends’ parents are dying. I am so thankful my parents are still here.
I now have a person I talk to about my person a couple times a week. Also about my parents and my kid and my job. My new person is the only person who understands me, who listens to me. I have to pay this person a lot of money, which feels like a bargain. They listen to me!
My new person helps me to forgive myself. And everyone else. Like everyone. My new person says I’m a good person, which I don’t believe. I think my new person may be crazy.
My parents are definitely crazy now. But I love them more than ever.
My kid is also crazy and complains a lot. I love my kid so much it hurts. I am so grateful to be alive and to have my kid and my person and even my job.
My original person and I are still together. We are both crazy now, and when we look at each other we see how hard love is, and also how important it is.
Life is amazing.
Life.
