New Year’s Day, 2012 

I was tired. I was sitting at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law’s house, waiting for a funeral that shouldn’t have been happening. I was exhausted, emotionally drained.

Defeated.

So I did what any normal person would do. I insulted the gay people who were sitting next to me.

Because if I have learned one thing in life, it’s that when the going gets rough, just take it out on the gays.

 I was sitting in family’s house, mourning the loss of my seventeen year old niece on New Year’s Day.

In a house crowded with her memories, her parents’ grief and so few “right” words. Because really, what ARE the right words?

2 Days Ago

Two days earlier, I had been standing in my kitchen, preparing for New Year’s with my mother-in-law. We had just been to Wegman’s, where we sampled too many cheeses. But we were excited. For New Year’s Eve. For a brand new start.