25 years without you.A lifetime with you in me. Somehow, both are true at the same time. There are days when 25 years feels impossible—like I’ve lived more of my life without youthan I ever got to with you. A whole childhood.A whole becoming.Versions of me you never got to meet. And I think about… Continue reading 25
Tag: parent loss
As A Woman
As a woman,I carry both the softness I was never taughtand the strength I had to build alone. As a girl growing up,I searched for a mirrorin faces that never quite reflected me.I needed a mentor,someone steady,someone sure,someone to say, this is how you hold yourself togetherwhen life tries to pull you apart. There were… Continue reading As A Woman
Seeing Past the Grief
Grief is loud in the beginning. It does not enter quietly or politely. It rearranges your entire life without asking for permission, and it refuses to leave when you beg it to. When you lose your mother at a young age, grief does not feel like something you experience. It feels like something that raises… Continue reading Seeing Past the Grief
I Wish Heaven Had Visiting Hours
I wish heaven had visiting hours, so I could sit with you again, hear your voice, soft and steady, feel the comfort of your presence like I used to. I would sit across from you, watch you smile, watch your eyes light up at nothing at all, and remember how the world made sense when… Continue reading I Wish Heaven Had Visiting Hours
Finally Realizing: I Have Nothing to Prove to Anyone
“I am enough simply by being me.” It hits differently when you truly realize it: you don’t owe anyone validation. You don’t need to explain yourself. You don’t need to fit into the boxes, expectations, or judgments that others try to place on you. I’m living for me and me only. Not for applause. Not… Continue reading Finally Realizing: I Have Nothing to Prove to Anyone
Do Not Put Shame Where God Has Put Glory
For a long time, I carried my mother’s absence like a quiet ache. It wasn’t the kind of grief that people asked about anymore, it was the kind that lingered after everyone else had moved on. The kind that became part of my reflection. As a girl, I didn’t have the words for it. I… Continue reading Do Not Put Shame Where God Has Put Glory
Trusting God When the Map is Missing
Trusting God has always felt like stepping into a dark room without a light switch. Some people are handed roadmaps and safety nets, but if you’ve grown up without a guide, without a mother to teach you what’s ahead, you know how quickly life can feel like uncharted territory. For me, faith was not handed… Continue reading Trusting God When the Map is Missing
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
Dreaming of Mother-Daughter Trips
I often find myself dreaming of mother-daughter trips. Those special moments filled with laughter, adventure, and the simple joy of being together. Trips where stories are shared, hands are held, and memories are made. But for me, those trips never happened. My mom was cremated, and her ashes were scattered into the ocean when I… Continue reading Dreaming of Mother-Daughter Trips