What I thought was me wasn't

I worked very hard to have stability.

Then, starting in 2019, my life went through a significant, life-changing event every single year. My stepfather’s end of life started it. My mother died a year later. It kept going from there.

Some things in life cannot be controlled. I knew that already. What I had not learned yet was the second part.

The things we tend to identify with as core to who we are aren’t necessarily who or what we really are. Life has a funny way of testing that.

It’s now 2026, and even still each year has looked significantly different from the last. Stability, was it really my core? Maybe even at high tide the biggest of rocks can feel overwhelmed. I’m not sure. But I do know the past few years have been rough, and I feel my growth through them.