PROLOGUE
I used to believe that life was a series of tables. If you studied hard enough, worked long enough, and were brave enough to sit at them, you could control the outcome. I thought the goal was to never let your chair go empty.
I spent my life "leaning in." I pushed against the glass, against the expectations, against the silence. I was the architect of the plan. I was the queen of Option A.
But the thing they don’t tell you about the plan is that the plan doesn’t care about you. Life doesn't ask for your permission before it shatters. One minute you’re laughing at a joke in the Mexican sun, and the next, the air has left the world.
When the ground disappears, you realize that all those tables you fought for don't mean anything if the person across from you is gone. You’re left in the dirt, staring at the pieces of a life that will never, ever be the same.
They tell you that time heals. They’re wrong. Time just teaches you how to carry the weight. It teaches you that when Option A is taken away, you have a choice. You can stay in the dark... or you can find the strength to kick the shit out of Option B.
This isn't a story about how to succeed. This is a story about how to survive. It’s about the messy, beautiful, heartbreaking process of becoming the person you never thought you’d have to be.
My name is Sheryl. And I’m still here.
