Day 74 Drive

There’s a stretch of road close to the end of the Florida Turnpike, between Exits 3 and 2.

This, this is my favorite part of the road.

On any given day, this particular stretch of road has no street lamps. So, at night, the drive is dark and long, with the sun having gone down ages ago, and the houses around the road looking almost like far-away stars from where you are. During this same time, the road is just as empty of cars as it is of lamps and you find yourself driving along a cautionary 70 mph just in case there’s a cop laying in wait in the shadows. But it’s so dark that you’re almost afraid of driving too fast anyway. [Almost]

There is no light to guide you but the one that you make yourself.

I wrote that phrase a while ago, shortly after my heart got shattered and I was faced with the next big challenge of my pathetically short life. It was a funny, comforting thought that I embraced and chose to follow. Tonight, driving down that same stretch, I remembered the words and smiled, realizing that I'd made my own light in a moment of darkness (and that I could do it again if I had to).