“And she embraced the chaos and it painted her life with purpose” . JH.HARDI am the daughter of a woman who was never allowed to love herself. My mother was a giver—never a taker. I watched her shrink, piece by piece, until there was nothing left of her but exhaustion and silence. She would serve, she would sacrifice, she would swallow her needs whole just to make space for everyone else. I saw it in the way she only ate half a plate of food, in the way she never spoke up when she was hurting, in the way she poured every ounce of herself into us—until she was empty.I tried. Allah, I tried to teach her that she was allowed to love herself, even though I couldn't love myself. That she was allowed to be more than just a mother, more than just a caregiver, more than just a body built for service. I begged her to rest, to take up space, to demand more. But she would only smile, tired and worn, and whisper, “This is what mothers do.”I told h
Last Updated : 2025-02-14 Read more