Maybe if my father had stayed, my heart would have known the difference between love and longing. It would not have lived on my sleeve like a bird without a nest, landing wherever it was welcomed. Perhaps then I wouldn't have spent so much of my life thirsting for affection, trying to fill a space that was never mine to carry empty. MAYBE JUST MAYBE I WOULD'NT HAVE BEEN SPENDING MY LIFE WANTING TO BE KEPT, LOVED AND CHOSEN.