As this year prepares to close and a new one begins, I can feel my healed version of self rising — ready to take a leap into the next chapter of my life. But before she steps forward, she pauses… not in fear, but in gratitude. She turns around to meet the past version of me — the one who survived the unthinkable — and she thanks her. There was a time in my life when I sat in a courtroom for two weeks, a death penalty case, forced to breathe the same air as the man who destroyed and killed so...

When I booked my trip to Spain, I didn’t realize it would lead me to someone who would feel like family — someone I never knew I needed. From the moment she picked me up at the airport in Barcelona, there was an instant connection. She quickly became like the older sister I never had — grounded, wise, full of laughter and warmth. Soon after, I met her cousin, and somehow, the three of us clicked effortlessly, as if we had known each other for years. The days that followed were filled with...

For a short time, I was a mom figure. Though brief, that love forever shaped me. The loss of my step-children became my greatest grief, but also my greatest drive in the work I do today. Motherhood isn’t just biology or time, it’s presence, love, and the impact we leave on children’s hearts.