“When I turned 50, I asked God to allow me to live out my next 50+ years differently than my previous, and one of His answers was that I needed to heal. As much as I wanted to reset my life, I still had baggage I never fully unpacked or addressed—shame, guilt, disappointments, heartbreaks, and other hurts. I had to address them first so I could begin healing.”
“They say time heals. Sometimes it does, and sometimes not. What I do know is that we will never completely heal if we continue to pretend we were never hurt, or if we don’t fully process the depths of our pain.
Healing can start by acknowledging, and even saying, ‘That really hurt.’”
That particular post was shared in its entirety. I wrote a follow up post two weeks later (July 28, 2024) that was too long to share—Questions I Asked Myself—but here’s an excerpt.
“Several posts ago I wrote, ‘Healing begins when we acknowledge our pain.’ I saw the future of the unhealed version of me and the future of the healed version, and decided I wanted the healed version. Which meant I had to push through the pain [of acknowledging and addressing my hurts].”
Personally, the healing process has been a journey. I needed to revisit what I had written (in other words, where I was), so I can properly celebrate where I am. I did the work (still working on a few things—it’s an ongoing process😊), and now I’m finally experiencing what it feels like to live from a healed place. Y’all, God is so good—so very good!
Listen, if there are areas of your life where healing is needed, please acknowledge them and start doing the work to heal. Trust me when I tell you that life is so much better on this side of the hurts and disappointments. Now, the process won’t be easy. You’ll still have triggering moments, but the more you push through, the easier and quicker it will be to overcome them.
Signed and sealed with love, light, and a little nudge to keep striving to be better and do better. Perfection isn’t necessary. You must keep moving to keep improving.
Today would’ve been my mom’s 68th birthday. I didn’t expect to feel as much grief as I’ve experienced this morning. Y’all, I miss my momma so much! I’ve been reading her writings (poems, notes, newsletters, etc.), and I thought I’d share one of the newsletters she used to write and send to her family and friends.
The picture above was taken during the summer of 1997, about a month before I left for Turkey , a week or so before my grandmother (mom’s mother) passed, and a year before my mom became paralyzed.
I remember that day so well. My mom had called a friend of hers to come take “professional” pictures of us. Basically, her friend had a professional camera, which meant our photos would be “professional.” I remember her fussing because 1) we did not want to take pictures, and 2) we really didn’t want to take pictures. She told us to throw on something halfway decent from the waist up and “come on take these pictures!” She said that our tops would be the only things showing. The lies!!😂
I was on leave and relocating, so most of my clothes were headed to Turkey. My sister and her son had come down from Kansas for a few days, so they didn’t have anything to wear. My younger siblings—including my teenage brother in the middle—were just there. They were used to her randomness. Y’all, the more she fussed, the more we laughed. She was the only one in the mood for pictures.
I don’t know where the final picture is—the best one taken—but this is the one I kept. To me, it was the most authentic. That was us! And it’s the only picture we have with all of us together with my mom.
Overall, that turned out to be a great day. She got her pictures, and we got to laugh and hang out together as a family. As I mentioned, my grandmother passed shortly afterwards. It was unexpected. My sister and I had just made it to Kansas when we received the call that Grandma had died.
Yes, she made Grandma take pictures too. Lol! And my baby girl wouldn’t act right for nothing!😂 Four generations of firstborns. I miss them!♥️♥️
All of this happened before our lives changed. Would I go back and do anything differently on that day? Honestly, I don’t think so. I think that day was perfect because Momma was happy.😊
Happy Heavenly Birthday, Dee Ree! All of your babies, grands, and your first great grand are doing well, but we really miss you. Sending you so much love.♥️🌺💗
It’s Shaun’s World 
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