Day 8 — The Weight I’ve Been Carrying Today’s Reflection For years, I carried a shame that never belonged to me. I carried the embarrassment of something someone else spoke over my family. I carried the silence because I didn’t want anyone to know where I came from or what we survived. I learned to hide pieces of myself to protect other people’s actions. Today I realize I was carrying someone else’s choices as if they were my own. Today, I choose to set that weight down. Journal What have you been carrying that never truly belonged to you? Affirmation I can put the weight down without pretending it never happened. Day 9 — Forgiving Myself Today’s Reflection This isn’t about forgiving my grandmother. This is about forgiving myself. I forgive myself for believing I had to carry her shame. I forgive myself for hiding my truth because I thought people would judge me. I forgive myself for protecting a story that was slowly breaking me from the inside. I forgive myself for believing someone else’s words had the power to define who I am. Today I release the guilt I was never meant to carry. Journal What have you never forgiven yourself for? Affirmation I honor the version of me that survived while embracing the version of me that is finally free. Day 10 — The Story That Was Never Mine Today’s Reflection The hardest prison to escape is the story we keep repeating to ourselves. For years, I believed my family’s story was my identity. I believed I had something to hide. I believed I needed to stay quiet. I believed my past could somehow diminish my purpose. None of that was ever true. The truth is, I was never the story. I was the one who survived it. And today, I choose to become the one who rewrites it. Journal What story have you been believing that no longer belongs to you? Affirmation I am not what happened around me. I am who I choose to become. Day 11 — The Fear Beneath My Healing Today’s Reflection Sometimes the hardest part of healing isn’t the pain. It’s wondering who you’ll become without it.

DAY 1 — THE THING NEVER SAID I am Abraham’s daughter. For most of my life, I carried a story that never belonged to me. Before I was old enough to understand what was happening, I was accused of being someone else’s child. My grandmother believed that I was her husband’s daughter and accused my mother of something that was not true. Because of that belief, my mother and I suffered years of emotional, verbal, and physical abuse. My biological father was incarcerated before I was born, and although he eventually made it known that I was his daughter, the damage had already been done. I grew up carrying accusations that were never mine to carry. The truth is: I am Abraham’s daughter. DAY 2 — NAME THE FEELING For years I called myself strong, but underneath that strength were feelings I never gave names to. The emotions I carried were: - Rejection - Confusion - Anger - Loneliness - Fear - Shame - Sadness - Abandonment - Resentment - Determination I spent so much of my life trying to prove that I was different, worthy, and deserving of love that I never stopped long enough to name what I actually felt. DAY 3 — THE UNSENT LETTER Dear Grandmother, You made me fight a battle that was never mine. I spent years trying to prove that I belonged. I spent years trying to prove that I was worthy. I spent years trying to outrun accusations that were placed on me before I even knew who I was. The little girl who wanted your love eventually learned that she could not earn it. I watched my mother suffer. I watched our relationship suffer. I watched you choose a story over the truth. Even when you found out the truth you told I wasn’t gonna never mount upto shit. And while I cannot change what happened, I can finally release the responsibility of carrying it. I forgive myself for believing that your rejection meant that I was unworthy. I release the burden that never belonged to me. DAY 4 — BEFORE IT HAPPENED Before the accusations. Before the rejection. Before the family wounds.

This was an amazing assignment. I cried, a sang, I got real. I even uncovered a few things they were buried that I didn't realize. Edit: Day 3 song is Uncomfortable by Derrick Branch

i WANTED TO SOFTEN THE COVER AS A GESTURE OF HEALING THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE AS AN "ALTERNATIVE" @Tiffany Gaines

I just shared something publicly that I never thought I would tell. Not because I forgot it. Not because it didn’t matter. But because it carried a level of embarrassment and shame that I never wanted to revisit. Today I realized I wasn’t holding onto the story. I was holding onto the shame attached to it. And by speaking it out loud, I pulled something from the root. I feel lighter. I feel free. If you’ve ever had to fight for your identity, prove who you were, or carry a burden that never belong to. And thank you, @Tiffany Gaines , for creating a space where truth can finally be spoken. Some things don’t leave because time passes. Some things leave because we finally tell the truth.