Day before

That is odd. In a café bakery and no wifi but they have ether cords and cables. I almost did not recognize the word when it was said it has been so long since I have heard that word.

I was the first in my family to get a divorce.

The only one to get a college degree.

And I was different than all the rest more so that I was like any of the rest.

Not married

Divorced

Single Parent

Artist

Lifelong non-profit worker

Anti-racist

Fringe walker. That is how I have always thought of myself. Walking along the fringe of it all.  A perspective from the outside looking in, learned when I was young for matters of survival. I have a secret, a big one, to protect the family I must not allow it to escape. To keep it all together for everyone I must be on the alert for signs of trouble, or error, or threats to the balance. I tried. I really tried. The group did not want to stay in a group. All the group members decided to disband except for funerals. Not even weddings brought us together after a while.

Now there is chosen family. I hate that word chosen. I prefer saying family, without the descriptor.

Birthplace family and family for life. I know we will not disband. I know we will be at the important events. In this family I do not need to worry so much.