She wasn't just "growing up" anymore. She had arrived, and for the first time, she wasn't afraid of the work it would take to stay.
"It’s just a room, Jackie," her mother had said earlier that morning, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Jacqueline’s ear. "But it’s the first room where you get to decide who walks through the door." jacqueline mature
Instead, she stood in the center of her first solo apartment, surrounded by cardboard boxes that smelled of packing tape and old memories. She wasn't just "growing up" anymore