Exactly as advertised

When you're a small child, anything outside the scope of your tiny world can be pretty scary. In time, life becomes full of reasons to be paralyzed with fear, especially for an eleven-year-old who is afraid to go to school because of his anxiety disorder. Or a fourteen-year-old who has just broken his ankle skateboarding. Or a high school student without an idea what to do with the rest of his life. Or a nineteen-year-old whose father is having brain surgery. Or a young adult who realizes that the world is run by psychotic businessmen and murderers.
No matter how scary the world got, it's been easier with a mother to talk to. I'm grateful to have had my mom there for all the uncertainty and weirdness. Happy Mother's Day, moms.