Ashley Monae

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…

I remember when talking to Godfelt like breathing. Like I didn’t have to force the words outor wonder if Heaven heard me. Back then,I would ask Him questionslike a daughter tugging on her Father’s sleeve,and somehow…the answers would meet me the next day. Not always loud.Not always dramatic.But clear enoughthat my spirit would sit still…