“The idea of you is a part of my mind; you influence my likes and dislikes, all my tastes, hundreds of times when I don’t realize it. You really are a part of me. In the course of twenty crowded years one parts with many illusions. I did not wish to lose the early ones. Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen again.” ― Willa Cather, My Ántonia

So much of who I am today is because of those who have touched my life in one way or another – those who have hurt me, those I have hurt, and those who have experienced love. Those experiences are necessary, regardless of how hard they were to get through.