With the image of holding my sobbing brother in my arms etched in my mind, I lowered the journal. There had been many times throughout my reading that I had been fighting back tears, but now, I could fight them no more. Resting my head on my chin, I let the tears run freely down my cheeks while thinking of how close I had been of robbing myself of the wonder life I now had. More than that, how close I had come to hurting those who loved me most.

Despite the horrible events that I had just relived, these were not tears of sorrow, but of gratitude. I had...