06/23/2026
What Resilience Actually Looks Like...
Can I tell you about my mother for a second?
She was a single mom. She worked in a factory all day, then walked my brother and me to the laundromat. She was learning English. She was building a life — on a tight budget, without a roadmap, without anyone handing her anything.
And she did it all to salsa music blasting from the radio on Saturday mornings. Cleaning day. 💃
I didn't see struggle growing up. I saw fearless determination.
She kept a piece of paper in her purse so she could write checks and make sure the numbers were right. She was independent, resourceful, and so quietly strong that I didn't fully understand what I was witnessing until I was much older.
Resilience wasn't something she talked about. She didn't know at the time that she was shaping the way I would one day move through my own challenges.
She passed away in 2015, at 56, from early-onset Alzheimer's. The loss is indescribable. But so is her legacy.
Everything I am — the way I persevere, the way I keep building even when it's uncertain — is rooted in her.
Who is the woman that shaped you? I'd love to know. 💛