How insane and absurd that my work was up at the NHM. At first, I almost felt embarrassed—more so undeserving. Like, it should not be me up there. I have been looking forward to this since I got the email, but today I didn’t want to go. I laid on my bed at 4:30pm, and thought about how safe it would be to stay home and watch another crime show. I really just imagined a room full of people that would scoff at me. Or at the very least not understand why I got the opportunity. I imagine rooms like that everywhere, all the time. I fumble. I’m messy. I don’t know what I’m doing half the time. I kept waiting for an email that said, we picked someone else instead. And it never happened. Instead, my work went up like intended. And I brought my daughter, and I wore the outfit I had picked out for a week. And at the end of the night I felt loved and supported in the most corny-est way possible. I talked to people who cared. I literally cannot stress enough how much this meant to me. My little brain tries to sabotage me everyday, and everyday someone helps prove it wrong. I wish this was a cleaner, prettier—more concise caption. But! It’s not. Thank you again and again forever to Faye, Eden, and everyone at Junior High.