Chapter 8 - I STOOD UP WITHOUT HIM
Four months after the crash, I stood for the first time.
Two therapists held me.
My legs shook violently.
Pain ran through muscles that had forgotten their job.
Emma stood at the end of the rehabilitation bars.
“You can do it, Mommy.”
I took one step.
Then another.
I cried.
Not because it hurt.
Because for eleven years, Caleb convinced me I could not survive without him.
I couldn't handle money.
Couldn't raise Emma alone.
Couldn't return to work.
Couldn't make decisions.
Couldn't leave.
Yet there I was.
Standing.
Without him.
That evening, I applied for a remote accounting position.
Six weeks later, I got it.
The salary was smaller than what I once earned.
May you like
I didn't care.
The first paycheck deposited into an account with only my name on it felt like freedom.
