Ashley Monae

To My Firstborn, Maleeyah 🤍 October 16th. Before I ever knew your name, Before I ever saw your face, I was fighting battles in silence, Trying so hard to find my place. There was a time I almost gave up, When life felt heavier than I knew how to carry. I was hurting in ways…

I was born into survival, the kind that teaches little girls how to carry worlds before they can carry themselves. I became a mother before I became whole, a healer before I was healed, a safe place for everyone else while secretly searching for one of my own. I learned how to give. Give my…

Nobody tells you that one day you will put your childhood down and never realize it was the last time. The last sleepover. The last summer camp. The last prank call from the edge of a bed, trying not to laugh before someone answered. The last time two little girls believed they would always have…

The only way to itis through it. Not around it.Not over it.Not pretending it never mattered. Through it. Through the replaying memoriesthat show up uninvited at 2 am.Through checking your phoneknowing nothing new is there.Through grieving the version of thingsyou thought would survive. Because some endings don’t arrive loudly.Some fade in slow motionwhile you keep…