The Kind of Strength No One Talks About

Healing doesn’t always feel like strength. Sometimes it feels like waking up with a lump in your throat. Sometimes it feels like walking through life with a part of your heart missing.
Sometimes it’s making choices you pray no one else ever has to make.

Years ago, I made one of those choices.

I didn’t fight a system that was never on my side. I didn’t drag my kids through courtrooms, instability, or chaos just to say I tried. I let go, not because I didn’t love them, but because I did. So much that I laid down my pride, my rights, and the very title of “mom” so they could have a better chance at life.

Let me tell you something…
That’s not weakness. That’s the kind of strength no one talks about.

Every day since, they’ve been my why. Even if they don’t see it. Even if they never understand it. They are the reason I keep choosing healing. The reason I chose sobriety.
The reason I get back up when grief knocks me down again.

I never stopped loving them. Not for a second. And I still pray for them, think of them, miss them—every single day. But I’ve also learned I have to love myself now too. Because the version of me they may someday meet…She’s worth knowing.

This journey of healing is messy. It doesn’t come with neat edges or clean timelines. Some days I still break down. Some days I wonder if I made the right choice.
But I go back to this truth: I loved them enough to let them go. And now I love them enough to become whole.

If you’ve ever had to make the kind of decision that no one claps for. One that leaves you questioning everything. You’re not alone. Your story still matters. And so do you.

You can still be a good mom, even if your story looks nothing like you dreamed.
You can still be healing and worthy. You can still be grieving and growing. And you can still hold space for hope—because it’s not over yet.

So if you’re reading this with a heavy heart, if your story didn’t go the way you hoped, if you’ve loved deeply and lost quietly. I just want you to know…

You are seen. You are not alone. And your heart still has so much left to give.

Be gentle with yourself today.
You’re doing better than you think.

---