““not dealing with the past,” she said, “is like having a skunk in the middle of your living room. You don’t notice it after a while, but everyone around you smells it, and it rubs off on folks who visit, and no amount of tomato juice baths will ever wash the stink away. You can only bury the past when you acknowledge it and don’t allow it to sidle up against your leg no more. Even then, digging the hole to bury the thing is hard work. It’s the hard work of healing most folks never want to do.””
