What evoked the writing of this post was me trimming my ends. As a black girl nothing screams put together like long hair, natural or not, despite how raggedy it looks. I had ends that were scraggly and splits that went far up the shaft. I had breakage galore, and shedding amounts I thought only… Continue reading Part One: The Release of What Was Never Yours to Carry
Tag: love
Something That Baffles Me
Something that will always baffle me is this:People who have mothers. Not just in name, but present in every sense of the word. A mother who poured wisdom into them. A mother who showed up. A mother who held their hand, wiped their tears, and gave them the kind of guidance I used to dream… Continue reading Something That Baffles Me
Say It Fast or Don’t Say It at All
I’ve been thinking about why I speak the way I do fast, rushed, words tumbling over each other like they’re racing to the finish line. Or, on the other extreme, why I don’t speak at all. For the longest time, I thought it was just a personality trait. Maybe I was naturally quick. Maybe I… Continue reading Say It Fast or Don’t Say It at All
I Was Created for More
For years, I believed the lies I was told, some spoken outright, others whispered in the tone of cold silences. Words that said you don’t belong here. Actions that reminded me that love had conditions. The sharp edges of rejection cut deep, and I carried those wounds like proof that I was unworthy of softness. When you… Continue reading I Was Created for More
Borrowed Glimpses of a Mother’s Love
Finding traces of my mother’s pride in unexpected places I hope this doesn’t sound strange, but sometimes I find myself living vicariously through Blue Ivy Carter. Every time I see a video of Beyoncé watching her—really watching her—with that face only mothers have when they can’t believe they got to make someone so extraordinary, I… Continue reading Borrowed Glimpses of a Mother’s Love
70th
She would’ve been 70 today.And it’s strange—how you can ache for someone longer than you ever had them.Stranger still, how they can shape your life from the grave in ways the living never could. I was only nine when she left.Nine.Too young to understand what death really was, too old to forget the sound of… Continue reading 70th
The chance I never got
I never got the chanceto see the roles reversed to tuck her in when the world wore her down,to stroke her hair and say, “Rest now, I’ve got you.” She gave and gavefrom a well that seemed endless,but I never got to refill it.Never got to be her safe place,her warmth in the cold,her peace… Continue reading The chance I never got
The Good That Comes From Grief
The good that comes from grief is hard to see when you’re drowning in it.But over time, I’ve realized my mom left me a gift. It took me years to understand. For the longest time, I thought I was just surviving. That I was wasting the life she gave me, the lessons she could never… Continue reading The Good That Comes From Grief
The Day I Realized I Wasn’t Even a Second Thought
There’s a moment that splits your understanding of the world in two…the before and after. For me, that moment came with one sentence: “I’m tired of raising other people’s children.” I was the child. The one who lived in the house, who was there every day, who heard that sentence and knew it wasn’t meant… Continue reading The Day I Realized I Wasn’t Even a Second Thought
I Will Forever Wonder
I will forever wonderWhat it would feel like to be part of a familyThat loves each other without hesitation,Without condition, without cold silencesMasquerading as peace. A family where love isn’t earned by shrinking,By softening your voice, by folding into the cornersAnd hoping someone notices. A family where you don’t have to begFor time, for tenderness,… Continue reading I Will Forever Wonder