today at least you're you, and that's enough.

After a night of uneasy sleep, the alarm on my phone went off at 6:30 a.m. on December 13th, 2019. It was still dark outside. With only brief hesitation, I jumped out of bed and changed attire. I lazily brushed my hair in my dimly lit bedroom and went downstairs to wait on Hallie. At around 6:45, I walked in her room to remind her to wake up. I kept pacing around the living room waiting for her to walk down the stairs. Each passing minute was another ounce of stress added to our plans. We had a graduation to get to over and hour and half a way at 9:00. Once we got out the door, it was as dark as the middle of the night. It was very cold even with a winter jacket on. We got in the car and our first stop was McDonald's-- Hallie had to have something to keep her energy up during the car ride. We pull up and give our order: hashbrowns and a fruit parfait. At the next window, the cashier recites back the wrong order so Hallie reminds her of what we had. She joked that she needed