Category: Getting Personal

That’s on Sonia.

My Momma didn’t raise me to be silent. 🩷

What she’s taught me:

+ Let sleeping dogs lie.
+ It is what it is.
+ Cry, then boss up.
+ Stand for something or fall for anything.

Live. 🤍

Cheers to the warriors who continue to live and fight like hell through the depression, devastation, and destruction. Year by year. Month by month. Moment by moment.

DID YOU KNOW? I hid my mental health struggles for YEARS. Hiding my mental instability ultimately only did me and those around me a disservice.

In this sense, don’t be like me.

Help is available. Seek it. Please.

You are not alone. Never have been. Never will be. 🤍

And yet — here you are. 🤍

“I am sorry that the world wasn’t always kind to your heart. I am sorry that you placed your tenderness into the hands of those who could not hold it, that you gave so much of yourself to people who made you feel like you were difficult to love, that you gave so much of your hope to human beings who made you feel like you had to apologize for the way you cared. I am sorry that you experienced certain things at the hands of love that caused you to stop believing in its kindness. I am sorry that you loved human beings who did not love themselves and that you loved human beings who did not leave softly. I am sorry that love wasn’t always your safe place, I am sorry that love wasn’t always compassionate, wasn’t always light.

I am sorry that the world sometimes failed to protect your soul. That the Universe sent you certain human beings who were hurt, and in turn, they hurt you. I am sorry that you had to carry all of that weight inside of yourself. I am sorry for the things you had to endure, for the ways in which the world cracked loss into your life, for the ways in which it met you with things you were not prepared for, circumstances your hope could not weather. I am sorry that you had to heal a heart you did not break. I am sorry that you had to do it alone.

I am sorry that the world wasn’t always kind to you. I am sorry. But I am proud of you for being here. I am proud of you for trying to heal in the flood of all that felt unfair and cruel. I am proud of you for continuing to stay soft in a world that sometimes favors distance over depth, that sometimes fails to connect. I am proud of you for the person you were, for the person you became, for the way you dug yourself out of the dark, for the way you pushed through the hurt. I am proud of you for your hope. I am proud of you for your belief in the goodness, for the way you focused on it when so many aspects of your life tried to convince you that it did not exist. I am proud of you for choosing to heal. I am proud of you. You deserved a kinder goodbye. You did not deserve what happened to you. And yet — here you are. Here you are.” 🤍

Credit / Source: @rainbowsalt 👑

Survivor’s Remorse 🤍

Summer 2020 vs. Summer 2024

When DeAndree was murdered in July of 2020, I felt immense and persistent survivor’s remorse. I felt helpless and powerless. Although we were separated at the time of his death, I felt I wasn’t whole without him.

While he was resting peacefully and still is, I had to continue living when I didn’t want to. When it ached the worst. When the pain was the most unbearable and unimaginable.

I am here to assure you that God is a comforter. I thank God for His mercy, love, strength, and support.

For my fellow grief warriors, I hear you. I see you. I am you.

🤍

“I was blinded by survivor’s remorse,
I was supposed to build.

…Still solid, still here.”

-Roddy Ricch

Friends. 🩷💛💙🧡💚💜❤️🤍

After dinner at Le Suprême for Zac’s (Roxanne) birthday! 🥳 (6-18-2024)

True friends are angels here on Earth. 🤍

Zac, Roxanne, my love, my neighbor, my apartment husband; our lives intertwined at such a pivotal time for us both. We were individually rebuilding the very broken pieces of our lives. Grieving the loss of our marriages in different yet similar ways.

It is one of the greatest privileges and honor of my life to call you my friend. I will always be grateful that our paths crossed. A friend you have in me, until the end, then beyond.

Cheers to us creating a masterpiece with those broken pieces, together!  I love you. I see you.

Chris, Michael, Todd, and Anthony, thank you so very much for welcoming me into your circle and in your life. Thank you for being kind in a world that hasn’t always been kind to you.

I look forward to building beautiful friendships with you all. I genuinely feel loved, heard, and seen. I hope you do too. I love you.

House of Scissors 👑✂️✨️

House of Scissors told a story.

It is a story of love, hate, gain, loss, advocacy, activism, acceptance, and rejection.

Proud is an understatement, Roxanne and Avery. You both exemplify love, compassion, service, and advocacy.

Two of the sweetest souls I’ve had the privilege of being in the presence of.

Thank you for being kind in a world that hasn’t always been the kindest to you.

From all of us, thank you.

You both hold the crown, always. 👑

I love you.