They say it takes a village to raise a child, but you don’t truly understand what that means until life doesn’t go as planned. When families fracture and expectations shift, it’s the people who show up consistently who make all the difference. This is a reflection on absence, resilience, and the woman who became the steady force in my village.

From the day I was born, the odds were stacked against me. What started as a fight for survival became a lifelong lesson in resilience, laughter, and finding beauty in the unexpected.