You Have a Choice: Your Future Can Be Better Than Your Past

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.” ~Mary Oliver

On the January 17, 2000, I was in a car crash. I was living in France at the time. I don’t remember much about the crash. I know that we all walked out of the car relatively unscathed. Shocked, scared, and confused, yes. Injured, no.

I remember thinking that I should probably call my mum and dad back in England. Tell them what happened. What I didn’t know in that moment was that back in the UK, I didn’t have a mum to call anymore.

That same afternoon, on the 17th January 2000, was also the day my mum had decided to take her own life. 

I found out about my mum’s death standing in the reception of the hotel we had walked into after the crash.

“Liz, she’s gone.”

That’s all I heard at the other end of the phone. It’s all I had to hear. I knew. It was my sister’s voice. She’d managed to track me down in the hotel. Continue reading.

Originally posted on Tiny Buddha.