So here we are; human. All skin and bones, organs and muscles. Our parents tell us we can be whatever we want to be. They say, "find yourself." They tell us to love whomever we choose and to love them with whatever we have. They tell us to treat others the way you want to be treated, to thank everyone who opens the door for us.

So here I am-skin and bones, ***** and muscles. I'm traveling through life doing exactly what I was taught to do and that was to be myself. I drive down the street and I sing to the radio. And people laugh-a lot of people laugh. But I love freedom. I love when I can feel the wind in my hair. I love reminding myself that I am still alive. That the people laughing are alive too.

And they are human, and sometimes we forget that. Every step that we take, we are moving along this life and it's so short and so beautiful and sometimes it's terrible. But don't ever forget that you're alive. That the road is always taking us somewhere, even if its a dead end. Because we don't always need pavement to follow our dreams. We don't need signs to tell us how fast we can go, because we're all moving at our own pace. And sometimes the dead end roads lead to the best hiding spots, and your greatest ideas come at red lights, but I never want to stop moving-I never want to turn around and go back. Because the past always looks more wonderful then the present and the future, things start happening. And I was always taught that 'things' is an oatmeal word, but so are a lot of words. And I got this idea to write a poem while I was waiting for a friend and I realized how lucky I am. Because people leave all the time. And she hasn't. Some of us have heard all the '...I'm leaving you' speeches and my heart goes out to the people who didn't receive them. Because leaving should never be done in silence. But when people leave, they stay inside of you forever, whether you like it or not. So you can sit at the red light every morning before work and ponder why they left...or you can just let it go. Because people leave every day and it doesn't make it any easier. But our parents taught us to thank everyone who opens the door for us but this is me sincerely thanking every one of you for closing it behind me.