She heard me

When I was little and I wanted to do something different from everyone else in my family, my family would say "go with the flow." I hated it. It hurt my feelings. Instead of saying we hear you. we love you. We value you, but we are going to do this other thing anyway, they said, "go with the flow."

They acted like I was trying to be difficult. But I was just trying to feel and embrace. Sometimes we would wait and wait and wait in the line at a restaurant even if it deep down nobody wanted to eat there. I would say something hoping that we could break the silence and embrace the moment. They would belittle me and say "go with the flow." It was frustrating and sad for me. I just wanted to feel the moment. I just wanted to be heard. That's who I was. That is who I am.

A few days ago we were in a situation where Quinn was going to have to navigate a situation based on the response of somebody else. "if they say this honey, then you'll say that. But if they look like they are upset, then you could say this. Get it? You'll just go with the flow."

Son of a freaking gun, guess what she said to me? With tears and with confidence, she folded her arms and said, "But your family used to say that to you when you were little and you hated it!"

Oh my goodness.

Oh. My. Goodness.

She heard me. She heard me. My eyes welled up.

She and I -- we are going to make it.