Dear Younger Me Dear younger me, I’m you. Not standing ahead, not trailing behind— but gently, finally, beside you. I am a woman now, but I have not forgotten the softness of your hands, the tremble in your voice, the way you learned to survive before you ever learned to live. I was you. And I still am. Though my days now carry chaos, mistakes, lessons that carved deep lines into my spirit— they also carry you. I carry you willingly, happily, peacefully. But somewhere along the way, running forward, chasing healing, chasing becoming— I forgot to turn around and come back for you. So I’m here now. To hold you. To look into your eyes and say what you always deserved to hear: I love you. I have always loved you. And you are safe now. I am here to protect you. To stand between you and the world when it feels too heavy. To promise you— you will never be alone again. We will sit together with the pain you still carry, not as enemies, but as something we can soften, something we can heal. Together. Please know this— the woman I’ve become is strong. She is an overcomer. A protector. A provider. A mother. And with everything in me, with every breath I take, I will fight for you. I will stand tall when you feel small. I will lend you my strength when yours feels gone. Because this was never just about me. It was always about us. Every moment that tried to break us, every ache that made our chest feel like it might stop beating, every voice that told us we were less than— they were wrong. They never saw what was already inside of us. Because in our veins lives something unshakable. Something sacred. Something that refuses to stay down. And from ash— we rise. Not broken. Not lost. But together. Stronger. Whole.