The life I thought I'd keep

For most of my adult life, I knew exactly who I was on a Monday morning. I had a desk, a title, a calendar full of other people's priorities, and a quiet pride in being the one everyone could count on.

I won't pretend it was a dream. It was a good, ordinary life, and I worked hard for every piece of it. I paid my bills. I planned for later.

Later was always the word I leaned on.

If you had told me then that I would walk away from all of it at fifty-two, I would have laughed. Not because it was impossible, but because I didn't think I was the kind of woman things like that happened to.

So this is where my story starts. Not with the hard part, but with the part I didn't know I'd lose.

Amanda