It's past my bedtime.

Too much red?

Maybe.

Or, perhaps, not enough.

These days it's hard to sleep.

Peacefully that is.

Dreams, weird ones, they wake you.

If it's not the dreams, it's the kids.

Understandably, they're a bit "off" and shaken too.

The world is different today, and it will be tomorrow.

And, different, well, it takes some getting used to.

The funny, but not really funny thing is that by the time we all do just that, get used to this "new normal," it'll be time to get reacquainted with our old ways and an unfamiliar version of how things used to be.

Will we slip right back into our routine?

Or, will our curious soul question why it is that we don't want to?

It's past my bedtime.

This is an evening rambling, yes, but it's honest.

9 pm has always felt "late" to me.

But maybe I'm more tired these days 'cause I'm carrying more throughout them.

Confusion.

Fear.

Hope.

Love.

Faith.

I'm not sure what's going to happen.

Not tomorrow, the next day, a week or two weeks from now.

But, what I am sure of, is that it's probably gonna feel like f*ckin 'Groundhog Day around here for quite a while longer.

And, knowing that, there's just no chance in hell I'm letting my cowardly shadow get the best of me.

I'm not who I was; I'm stronger.

I'm not who I am; I'm stronger.

I'm who I'm becoming because of what it is I am a part of,

what I'm witnessing,

and what I'm going through,

and from here on out, I'm stronger, and I always will be.