“If I could just go back.” My favorite words repeated in my head over and over again. So much useless mind chatter because nobody goes back. You play your hand and if you’re not focused on the game, you throw it all away. Which is what I did, not in poker but in life where it hurts the most. You lose more than the ante; you lose everything that defines what living should be.

I met Peg in a bus station. I was heading out of West Virginia to meet…