Gutter Child

It takes a particular kind of strength to exist in a world where you are not wanted that doesn't feel like strength at all.

A girl learns who she is from the woman she sees loving her," Ida says. "She learns what's good and what's lovely about herself, and the further apart she is from that woman, and the more different they are, the harder it is for her to know what to love about herself. Especially when everything around her tells her she's not right.

When I drew pictures of Mother and me, I used Peach for her and Chestnut for myself. "Why is your skin named after something soft and sweet and mine is something hard and bitter?" "Because you are so much tougher," she said. I thought that was a very good answer. And maybe it's true. But I am forced to be tough.

That's the slow death you don't see coming. The hardest one to fight. The one that comes for your mind.

Joy starts right here, in your own heart.

I don't know if I have happiness, but I found purpose. I suppose. That's what drive me. Perhaps you can find that too. If you ask me, purpose is far more useful than happiness. Happiness is like sugar, sweet but quick to go. But purpose is really something babygirl, purpose gets you through whatever comes.

What if greatness only happens when we're together, when we don't let them pull us apart?