God Bless my grieving heart

We only live once but we do not die just once—we die in every heartbreak, every surrender, every silent goodbye to the person we used to be. But if death is inevitable, so is the choice to rise again.

There are days when I look in the mirror and barely recognize the person staring back. My eyes, once filled with unshaken wonder, now carry the weight of things I never asked to endure. My smile, once effortless, now feels like a mask I wear to convince the world and maybe even myself that I’m…