The Unsung Strong Woman

This afternoon I had the pleasure of making a crying woman smile. She just needed to talk, she needed a trusted person to be honest with, she needed to hear how far she has come. She's raw right now. Emotionally weakened. She has spent many years building barriers around her pain. She has not touched meth in 25 days. She spends her days trying to do what's right. She attends her recovery meetings and wanders through her day clean and sober while trying to put the pieces of her life back together.

She sat and cried. She told me her secrets and cried some more. She mentioned how she never would have told anyone her secrets, her fears.... how she carried them inside and tended to them self-consciously.

I pointed out to my dear friend that while she may feel as if she's at the lowest point of her life (her words), that while she may feel the most vulnerable.... she is stronger and more powerful than she's ever been! How amazing that she could speak the words that used to terrify her! And that she learned this skill in a terrifying place... on the streets, homeless, fighting an addiction to meth. How amazing that she acknowledged her fears and insecurities out loud in front of me!!

The phenomenal woman who thinks she's so weak is stronger than most men I know. She will persevere... of this I am certain.