Exactly a year ago my life was in a horrible place. You can't even call it a horrible place though, because horrible places have big, fat warning signs reading: "DO NOT ENTER, YOU MAY BE EATEN ALIVE" everyone already knows they're horrible. This place I was in was more of a place of darkness, of lonely shadows shouting out for help, even though no one was there. This place not only ate me alive, it chewed me up, spit me out and burned my remains to ashes, right along with any hope I had left. Everyone said I just needed a flashlight to get me out of the shadows, I laughed, thinking they'd never understand.

But then I rediscovered hope, in the form of beautiful brown eyes and playful giggles that reached out and pulled me into a safer, warmer place. She not only has given me hope. But much more than that, she's also given me reassurance, she's given me fortitude, she's given me light in the darkest times. Now I finally understand, life can be dark sometimes, but there's always a light to get you out if you look hard enough.