I finally cried today. I’d been in the car driving for half an hour in search of a parking spot. That wasn’t what triggered tears, though. What triggered the tears, on this beautiful spring day, was the feeling that I’m suddenly so vulnerable, legislatively so. I’ve been angry since Inauguration Day, but angry in a global sense. Today, I feel personally attacked. There are no reassurances that lawmakers, with their own exceptional health care plans, can provide me right now.

My life has become a pre-existing condition, and a change in the current law, followed by a thoughtless sweep of a pen, could lead to a chain of events in which it is decided that my life is no longer worth preserving. That it is too costly to keep me around.

There are millions just like me.

I bought spring flowers for my tiny balcony yesterday. Gardening is an act I commit every spring, even though I don’t know the first thing about it. I’m getting my hands dirty today. I’m getting the job done, even though it puts me out of my comfort zone. Keeping these plants alive becomes my priority. Failing to keep them alive will feel like true failure.

Legislators would do well to follow this lead. Leaving your comfort zone, valuing life in a far more radical and tangible way than simple lip service, these things take some courage.

Today, once again, we’ll get to see who lacks it. We will take note. Remember their names.