Marisa Donnelly

You teach her that it is not her body that makes her who she is, but her mind, her soul, the way she carries herself, the way she laughs, the way she loves, the way she listens.

Stage #1: I’m a boss.

You are not the words this person says. Remind yourself of that daily, until you believe it.

You are continually looking for ways to be even more self-sufficient, to carve your own life path, to do what you want. But you also love. And love terribly, beautifully, fully.

But this is what you do when you are broken. You pick yourself up, piece by piece. You re-learn the strongest parts of yourself and fight until you break through.

To be selfish means to know who you are as a person and what you need. It means taking the time to do things that you want to do. It means not changing your plans, your thoughts, your words, your actions, yourself for the sake of someone else.

“Puppy love is this constant need for validation and communication that the other person is into you. With real love you can sit in the same room together for HOURS and not say a word to each other and you know that everything is alright.”

Forgive us. For the snippets of you that find their way into a plot line, for the secrets you’ve whispered that somehow made it to the page. We’re passionate about both things—our words and you—sometimes we can’t keep them apart.