“Once you let the unrealistic expectation of perfection fade, all that is left is you... and that is a wonderful thing to be." I wrote that silly little line in a journal once. Now, when I look back on it, it seems a little bit too “Hallmark-y” for my taste, but nevertheless I still believe in its truthfulness. I gave up the expectation that I would or should be perfect in this life a long time ago. Things go wrong–Goodness, at times things go horribly wrong. There have been countless doors closed, windows sealed shut, and escape panels blocked, so I built my own doors, windows, and paths forward. I have gone through these things that have tried to reduce me to nothing, attempted to make me lose focus, and derail me, but I know that I have a divine purpose and while I am not the sum of my experiences, I am the survivor and victor of them. In order to fully love myself, I have found that it can be counterproductive to hate the experiences that have molded me into who I am. Rather, I wave to them as I pass them by, releasing them to places where I am not. I am a rape survivor, pregnancy loss survivor, and a childless mother and from those experiences and the strong desire to keep my life from spiraling into unhealthy venting outlets, my pen met a page and I wrote…and wrote…and I kept writing…and I will keep writing. Journals filled to the brim with anger, frustration, sadness, loneliness, confusion, and pain. My Notes app was full of worries and depression-dipped passages. Out of those heaps of words “Because Someone Forgot to Love You” was born because that is exactly how I felt and how I still feel in waves. I felt forgotten, like the world had left me behind. My body mentally and physically damaged sought asylum and I found that asylum in words. Shortly after “Because Someone Forgot to Love You” was published, I was selected to participate in “Dear Freedom Writer: Stories of Hardship and Hope” alongside Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers. Amidst all of these trials, there is a light though at times hidden by a thick darkness. If a little poem that I wrote in my backyard between unending tears could help alleviate that pain no one should know of, a pain that I know so well, I am happy and honored to write it. I hope those who need it feel a little more at peace today, a little more okay,and a lot more understood. Take a breath and we’ll get through it together.