I spent a long time watching things change with my mom and telling myself it was nothing. I saw the missed meals and the red flags, but I wrote them off as nothing, in part because I wasn't ready to face what was actually happening. I was subconsciously holding up a world that had already started to crumble. This episode is about the reality of the "gap" I’m living in right now—the exhausting, emotional whiplash between feeling like I’m finally moving forward and feeling completely empty and filled with regret. It’s about the guilt of feeling relief when the weight is finally off your shoulders, and the honesty of admitting that sometimes, I still wish I could go back to the nightmare because at least I knew the rules there. I’m taking you back to the last time I said that everything would be fine, and that excuse stopped working. The moment I realized my life was never going to be the same. I’m stopping the story right there, in the silence before the storm. Because if you’re currently sitting in your car like I did, just trying to find the strength to walk through your own front door, you don't need a lecture or a plan. You just need to know you aren't the only one screaming at the steering wheel. Sometimes, staying in grief and getting through the next five minutes is the only thing you can do. And that’s okay.

Grace Lives Here is made from moments like this one.

If your story connects to it, you’re part of it too.

You can reach me here: https://secondstorystudios.org Or email me directly at: secondstorystudios.creative@gmail.com Substack: https://substack.com/@krissinclairwites