I Realize Now I was Brave

I realize now I was brave. I didn't always know this. I didn't always realize this. I left my home town. I left for school. I left for good. I didn't look back. I worked hard. I excelled. I did all I could. I went to Hawaii and back. I worked and worked and worked and worked. And I don't regret that I worked. I don't regret that working became my way of living. The way I breathed.
I didn't realize always what a brave spirit I had. That I could have just laid it in the laps of my parents. Left the living of my life to them. Let them control me 'til their demise. Lapped up into the shores of a mans misery and abuse and called that status qua. Called that just Tuesday.
I realize now that I was brave.