“I questioned my shortcomings as the days went on. Why didn’t I just water it? Why am I just watching it die? And I would just watch. It felt like a monumental effort to put some water in a container, open the door, pour it onto the plant, and put the container away…”

“I really looked at myself and plucked those thorns out one by one. It was grueling. I kept plucking them - painfully - until I finally realized there was a rose there all along…”