I was born "pretty": Please Be Patient. Please Be Kind.

Some people were born smart. I was born "pretty."

There I was, Forrest-Gumping it across America-no Nikes, just me and my car. Six months, coast to coast, with a grin that said, "I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm fully committed."

Why the sudden escape? I was down to my last marble. After two years as a full-time caregiver for my parents during COVID-Dad being his ever-appreciative but Commander-in-Chief self, and Mom having just made her final exit-I needed out of that house. It was the...