The cut of adoption.

Imagine getting a cut.
A deep cut.
Really deep and long.
It hurts bad.
Now if you treat it and it heals,
you won't truly ever forget,
but you can ignore it to the point where it feels as if you've forgotten.
You don't feel the pain anymore,
you can barely notice it now.
But the scar is there,
constantly overlooked.
Right?
But imagine knowing that in 15-20 years,
something will RIP and TEAR that scar wide open.
It will hurt so much more being torn open again after that thick scar tissue was used to heal it up.
This time it will take a lot longer to heal.
Even if it does heal, it'll probably hurt often.
So instead... you keep the wound open and bleeding,
tending to the blood a little at a time, making sure you're clotting right.
Making sure you still have enough blood.
But you can't let it heal.
Right now, you feel pain, but nothing like having it ripped open all over again.
Keeping it open and not letting it heal not only prevents against future pain though.
This way - you can't forget.
It will always be there.
You will never overlook it.
You will never take advantage of what you once had again.
You will have a constant reminder right there on you of who you now are,
who you've become, and who you will always be.
You have right there on you -
the fight you hold inside you and the motivation to protect others from the same fate.
Everyday, it hurts and it brings you pain.
Every time you look at it, it makes it worse.
But you're alive.
So you just keep tending to it a little at a time, and not allowing it to heal shut.