-
The Shape of Surrender
I love flowers! 💐🪻🌷🌼🌻☺️☺️☺️ Tulips are my husband’s favorite. So when he buys them for me, it’s a quiet win for us both—him offering what he loves, me receiving what I cherish. One bouquet caught my eye as the morning light poured in. The tulips had bent so gracefully toward the window, their stems stretched and their petals opened wide. No forcing. No striving. Just responding to the light. I tried to rotate the vase to help them “straighten up.” I thought they’d realign if I just turned them in a different direction. But they didn’t. They kept their posture, curved as if still remembering the light they were first…
-
The Middle Space
No one really talks about this part. The space in between. Where you’re no longer the child who gets tucked in, but not quite the elder everyone defers to. Where your parents are gone, your children are grown or growing, and you find yourself… holding. Holding memories.Holding responsibility.Holding emotions for everyone else, and sometimes none for yourself. It’s a space I never saw coming, and yet here I am. The middle. Not center-stage, not retired from the work. Just standing somewhere between what was and what will be. Parenting while grieving. Grieving while navigating. Navigating while being asked to lead. I’ve buried my parents. I’ve buried my only sibling. I’ve…