Matthew, this is so beautifully written, and so powerful. What a reflection on pain, and how it affects us all in different ways. I hope Mary is doing better too. You really made me care a lot about her, and you in this piece.

We need to do a better job as humans of taking care of one another. We need to give women more love and support, and sometimes even more so MEN more love and support. I wish there were more places where our human fears and emotions could be processed — outside of the web of hate and violence that has come to wrap the world in its subtle, but deadly embrace.

Maybe Medium is one of those places for you. I know it is for me.

I believe we live in a fractal world. I believe that little acts of kindness, whether they be constant or not, are the seeds of change that will make the world a better place. I love how you described your moment of choice, and your decision to drive back around the block. The coldness of the night made the story feel correct, at least to me.

It’s time to break the cycle of intergenerational pain that you’ve identified here.

Breaking the wheel is something that can happen in real life, not just Game of Thrones. But I believe it will happen in unexpected ways, like the exchange of your words with your readers, and the ways it might shift each of our choices in the course of every single day.

Bravo. You are seen. Let’s keep it going!

#onelove