Instead, I distracted myself with minutiae. The word minutiae (pronounced muh-NOO-shee) means unimportant, trivial stuff. I reminded myself of children when they're afraid of the dark, imagining a monster in the closet or under the bed. They cover their heads hoping not to see the monster they imagine is in their room. But the monster I was attempting to hide from is real...

The woman that we came through had her own burdens: maybe it was financial struggles, or emotional challenges. Maybe her burden was the frustration of giving up her dream to raise children (that’s a real one), or maybe her burden was the relationships she chose. No matter how great your mother was, or how bad she was at the job of mothering, consider how her burdens impacted you. You also have burdens you have picked up on your journey.The new bags are in addition to the ones