I'm not sure that I will ever fully understand what she did for me that day. Perhaps that isn't the point at all. What matters is that she really helped me. She saw and felt my pain and hit me precisely where it hurt the most -- the grief I have inherited from generations of women before me. She greatly chipped away at the wall I have erected between myself and my own mother and helped me let go of resentments I've held onto. I often say to others that I am the only person who ever gets in my way. I am always the only person holding me back from being everything I can and want to be. I suppose the best way I can describe what Ari did for me that morning was give me the opportunity to let go and get out of my own way. To allow myself to start to love and be loved and to forgive and move forward. To decide that I will be the last woman in my family to hold onto and pass on so much pain. As someone who is currently facing an enormous and very public challenge in my life, the relief she provided me and the space she has opened up for me is truly an invaluable gift and I am forever grateful.