ex-T was the first person who ever said those words to me. It was after she found out I survived that last overdose. I think that moment, hearing her say that, was when I started to open my heart to her.

I am blessed enough to have heard those words a lot of times since then, from a lot of different people, and it still moves me. Thank you. I am glad I am alive, too. I always quote my favorite author, Neil Gaiman, when I talk about how that suicide attempt cracked open my life and let in all the light and hope I didn't know I could ever feel. Neil's quote that came to me then and comes to me almost daily is this: we save our lives in such unlikely ways.

We do. I saved my life that night, and now it is better in more ways than I would ever have dreamed possible. It's not perfect, and that's ok, because perfect isn't real. Ex-T hurt me, and she shouldn't have, just like so many other people have hurt me in my life. That doesn't mean I deserved it, and it doesn't mean I'm broken. It means I am alive and I am experiencing my life with all its ups and downs and risks and rewards and sorrow and joy.