I see her hold the baby in her arms and I cry. So many of them have babies and husbands and careers. Things that they can talk about at parties while they clink their wine glasses together.

What have I accomplished? What are my dreams? What path can I take now that I've taken one often traveled but seldom genuinely enjoyed. I am on the edge of a world that is of my own phony creation...where I can make myself happy whenever I like...or I can destroy myself just as easily. The yellow brick road must lead to reality. Reality is the only happiness. You can either live life as it is or simply settle on existence and float through it without putting down your roots.

The mistakes you make. These are the kind of stories you use...like breaking the glass in case of emergency...to tell your kids some day. (Maybe so they don't make the same mistakes you did.) And waste the biggest gift of all...a life. Life is a gift often wasted.