Some of the deepest healing

 Some of the deepest healing I’ve ever done came from grieving the parents I needed but never had.

Not from blaming them. Not from waiting for an apology that would never come. But from finally letting go of the fantasy version of them I held onto for so long.

I grew up learning that my needs were too much. That love was something I had to earn. That safety wasn’t guaranteed.

I didn’t just grow up. I survived. I adapted. I shrank myself just to keep the peace.

But now I’m a mother. And I get to choose differently.

I hold my children in all the ways I needed to be held. I look into their eyes and let them know they are safe. I meet their big feelings with softness instead of silence. And in doing that, I begin to reparent the little girl inside of me too.

It’s hard. It’s messy. But it’s the most powerful kind of healing I’ve ever known.

Because this time, the story gets to end with love.