I adopted Cinder at a time when I felt stuck without knowing what kept me trapped.

The joy he’s brought to me and my family has shown me how it’s possible to feel multiple ways at once: to know comfort within discomfort, to have the capacity to love even when Prozac strips you away from feelings and all things human.

I’m back to feeling a lot of things now, in full force from when I got Cinder five years ago. Still, learning to live might always be a process.

But it’s so been much easier with his unconditional love through the uncertainty.