I am strong.
Not because someone declared it. Not because a confrontation unfolded in my defense. But because I have carried strength all along.
I carried it in swollen ankles and aching hips. In sleepless nights and quiet disappointments. In the dignity of doing what needed to be done, even when support was absent.
This time, someone saw it.
And sometimes, being seen is enough to remind you that you were never small to begin with.
