I’ve lived through storms that could’ve broken me. I’ve been homeless with six children, holding onto faith when the world told me to give up. I’ve survived a marriage that looked like love on the outside but felt like survival on the inside. I loved deeply—sometimes too deeply—believing love alone could heal what hurt me. But here’s what I’ve learned: we love how we know how. And sometimes, the people we love can’t meet us at the level we give. Their capacity doesn’t determine our worth. My love was never wasted—it was a reflection of the abundance within me. From Survival to Self-Discovery For years, I wore every title: mother, wife, provider, comforter, fixer, and the one who always figured it out. I thought my value came from what I did for others. I poured from an empty cup, mistaking exhaustion for purpose. It wasn’t until I stopped chasing validation that I found alignment. In that stillness, I met a woman I hadn’t seen in years—the woman beneath the titles. S...
I woke up this morning with that ache in my chest—the kind that don’t ease up with sleep. I reached out, half-hoping, half-dreaming, wanting to see you lying there beside me. But the bed was just as empty as my heart’s been feeling lately. Looking for Myself in the Mirror I rolled outta bed slow and heavy, dragging my feet to the bathroom like I was walking through mud. I didn’t want to think about how cold them sheets felt without you, so I kept moving. Threw on a wig, slipped outta that big ol’ T-shirt I’d been sleeping in, and caught my own eyes in the mirror. Standing there in that black sports bra and panties, I didn’t even recognize the woman staring back at me. Her eyes looked tired, like she been carrying the weight of the whole damn world. My lips wanted to cry out, to scream so loud the walls would shake, but I couldn’t. My babies still asleep, and they don’t need to hear that kind of hurt. Screaming on the Inside I swallowed that scream whole. Let it settle d...