STILL HERE !!!!

Before I Knew Better

If you looked at me today, you might see a strong woman.

You might see someone who's been through things, made mistakes, carried responsibilities, and somehow kept moving.

But strength wasn't where my story began.

My story began with a girl who simply wanted to be loved.

A girl who wanted to feel safe.

A girl who wanted somebody to look her in the eyes and say, "I've got you. You don't have to carry everything by yourself."

I didn't know then that some of the people you expect to protect you can become the very people who teach you how to protect yourself.

I didn't know that love could feel like home one day and heartbreak the next.

I didn't know that you could give someone your whole heart and still be left wondering what you did wrong.

And I definitely didn't know that some of the hardest seasons of my life would eventually introduce me to a version of myself I hadn't met yet.

Life doesn't always ask permission before it changes.

One moment, you're imagining what your future will look like. The next, you're just trying to get through the day.

There were times when I felt like life was happening to me instead of for me.

Times when I questioned God.

Times when I questioned myself.

Times when I wondered why I seemed to have to learn so many lessons the hard way.

But when I look back now, I understand something I couldn't understand back then
Just a girl growing up in west Philadelphia!!!