Chapter Twenty-Three
OWEN
New Year's Day
It's a rowing tradition to always start off the new year with a late workout. As in seven-thirty, not asscrack of dawn. Sparky grills us with a glee that only comes from the joy of watching her team suffer. But we can't get mad at her, because she never asks us to do anything she's not willing to do herself. Yeah, she's our pint-sized cox and can't lift as heavy as we can, but she runs with us, lifts with us, and works as hard as any other member of the boat. Last year was our winningest year, and she's determined this year will be even better.
I wish I shared her enthusiasm.
I haven't felt this way in years. Numb. Not since early in the aftermath of losing my parents. The upside is that in the last six weeks, I've been getting s**t done like a
