This may sound like an over exaggeration. But it wasn’t.

Everything was new again. Except for all the things that weren’t. My life had been defined by a relationship that was now gone.

Growing up I learned how to surf. There were many aspects of surfing I came to understand and respect. One of the more important ones being how to wipeout and not drown. If I fell off a wave while trying to surf it, I was often tumbled around in the force and power of the wave before making it up to the surface for air. It could be disorienting and dangerous. I learned to cover my face and head with my arm so that if my surfboard smacked into or cut me, it was my arm that took the brunt of it.

I had to learn to understand and respect the aspects of this particular wipeout without drowning.