A few weeks after my son passed, I wrote about palm trees.
How they bend in the storm but they don’t break.
At the time, I wasn’t trying to be poetic. I was just trying to survive.
And now, with more loss behind me and more ahead, I still return to that image.
Palm trees are built for hurricanes.
Their roots grow wide and deep. Their trunks are flexible, not fragile.
They bend almost impossibly farand yet, they rise again.
People say, Youre so strong.
But I never felt strong. I felt broken, undone.
I showed up. I breathed. I kept goingnot out of strength, but out of necessity.
Sometimes, just surviving is the most sacred kind of strength.
And heres what Ive learned along the way:- I can do hard things. Even when I didnt want to.- Grief doesnt erase hope. They can coexist.- Resilience isnt about smiling through pain. Its about honoring the pain and choosing to keep walking.
This journey has changed me.
I no longer move through life the way I once did.
But I walk forwardnot just for myself, but for those who cant.
Each time I rise again, I leave a small lighted path.
For the ones who come after.
Just as Ive followed the light of those who walked ahead of me.
If youre in the storm right now, hold on.
Let yourself bend. Dont judge your strength by how steady you seem.
Judge it by the fact that you’re still here.
You’re not broken.
You are rooted.
And you are not alone.