12/10/2025
A Tribute to My Grandmother
One Year Later:
Today makes one year since my grandmother passed, and it brings up layers that aren’t simple to put into words. My relationship with her wasn’t easy, and the years I spent living with her were filled with experiences that shaped me in ways I’m still healing from. But even that truth deserves space today, because it’s part of my story and part of who I became.
She was a woman who survived her own storms long before I ever entered the world. And even though the way she moved through life left marks on me, I can now see that much of it, came from what she carried and never had the chance, or the support to heal. I understand that now as a grown woman. A mother, and someone committed to breaking the cycles she did not know how to break.
Today, I honor her in the way that feels true; not by pretending our story was perfect, but by acknowledging the impact she had on my life. She was the place where some of my deepest wounds began, but she was also the place where I learned strength, endurance, and resilience. The very fire I have now, the fire that let me build a life, raise my children with love, create a business, and heal, started in the places where I once felt powerless.
I honor her because without those experiences, I wouldn’t have the clarity, intention, and purpose I carry today. Her life taught me exactly the kind of woman, mother, and protector I needed to become. She taught me the importance of choosing softness for my children, choosing patience, choosing presence, choosing love that doesn’t traumatize.
A year later, I don’t pretend that everything was beautiful. But I do acknowledge her humanity, her struggles, and the ways her life shaped mine. I pray she’s at peace. I pray she found freedom on the other side of the things she could never let go of here.
And I stand today as the proof that the story didn’t end with her. I carried the pain, but I’m also carrying the healing forward.
One year later, that’s how I honor her.
