When I was little, my mom and I had a routine. Every evening, we\u2019d go for a walk around the block. She\u2019d hold my hand, ask me about my day, and always smile \u2014 that warm, patient smile that made me feel safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when we got home, she\u2019d quietly go into the bathroom and stay there for a while. I\u2019d sometimes hear soft sounds \u2014 like someone trying not to cry. I\u2019d knock on the door and ask, \u201cMommy, are you okay?\u201d She\u2019d always answer, \u201cMommy\u2019s fine, sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a kid, I believed her. I thought maybe she was just tired. But after she passed away three years ago, those memories started coming back \u2014 clearer than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t until I found her old journal that I finally understood. Inside were pages filled with her fears, her loneliness, and her struggles to hold our little family together after my dad left. One entry stopped me cold. She had written:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cSometimes I cry after our walks because he\u2019s growing up so fast, and I don\u2019t know if I can give him everything he deserves. I\u2019m doing my best, but some days it feels like my best will never be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s when it hit me \u2014 those tears weren\u2019t weakness. They were love. She cried because she had to be strong when no one else could be. Because she had to choose between breaking down or holding on for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, every time I go for a walk, I think of her \u2014 and I smile. Because I finally understand that her love wasn\u2019t in the words she said, but in the strength it took to keep saying, \u201cMommy\u2019s fine,\u201d even when she wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was little, my mom and I had a routine. Every evening, we\u2019d go for a walk around the block. She\u2019d hold my hand, ask me… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5206,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5205\/revisions\/5206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsbreeze.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}