I carry pieces

 I carry pieces of the women who came before me.

Some of their lessons were spoken out loud, passed down through stories, advice, and little reminders I still hear in my head. Others were unspoken, taught through the way they lived, the sacrifices they made, and the strength they showed even when no one was watching.

I have learned resilience from women who never gave up, even when life gave them every reason to. I have learned gentleness from women who still chose love, even when the world was unkind to them. I have learned what I want to carry on and what I want to let go of, because not everything passed down deserves a place in the future.

Being a woman means standing on the shoulders of those who walked before you. It means honoring them by breaking the cycles that hurt them. It means taking the best of their love and carrying it forward, so the next generation of daughters grows up with more light and less weight to carry.

I am who I am today because of them. And my hope is that one day, my daughter will say the same about me.