The Remembering

There comes a moment in every becoming

where you stop looking forward

and start looking inward—

backward, even—

toward the pieces of yourself

you abandoned just to make it through.

Not with regret,

but with recognition.

This is the remembering.

It happens quietly,

in the gentle moments when the world isn’t demanding anything from you.

A scent, a song, a touch—

something small slips past your defenses

and reminds you of the girl you used to be

before life grew sharp around the edges.

The girl who dreamed too loudly.

The girl who loved too deeply.

The girl who felt everything

with her whole chest

before she learned to shrink to survive.

You don’t miss the innocence—

you miss the freedom.

The way she moved without fear.

The way she trusted her heart

before it was taught to break quietly.

And somehow, through the tender wreckage of your undoing,

you begin to feel her again—

in the way your laughter comes easier,

in the way you soften when his hand brushes yours,

in the way you catch yourself hoping

without immediately bracing for loss.

He sees it before you do.

Not the pain—

the return.

The slow, beautiful reappearance

of the woman you were always meant to grow into.

Not the girl you were,

but the soul beneath her—

untouched, waiting, patient.

He doesn’t pull her out of you.

He simply recognizes her

in your quietest moments,

like he’s been waiting for her, too.

The remembering is not about going back.

It is about gathering what was left behind,

carrying it with you,

and letting it soften the parts of you

that hardened out of necessity.

It is the moment you realize you are more than your wounds.

More than your survival.

More than the version of yourself

that learned to disappear for the sake of peace.

It is the return

to your own heart.

The rediscovery

of your own depth.

The reminder

that you have always held more light

and more darkness

than the world ever allowed you to show.

The remembering is not a step backward—

it is a reclaiming

of every truth you lost

on your way to becoming

who you are now.