The Mixtape

by Brittainy C. Cherry

I wanted to know what made a person tick. I wanted to not only see them in the sunlight, but I wanted to see their rain clouds too.

I wondered if kids knew that when parents had to break their hearts, ours shattered more.

“Then there is no way we are poor. We have clothes on our backs, a roof over our head, a car to drive, and each other’s love. No one can be poor if they have love.”

I’d learned quickly that motherhood meant saying no to yourself so you could later say yes to your child.

The oddest thing about life was how something could show up out of nowhere and change everything in a split second of time.

“I think some people are just born sadder than others.”

Healing doesn’t walk a linear line; it takes the messy route. I believe that healing comes during both the dark days and the bright ones. It’s not all rainbows. Sometimes healing means slicing open the scars that made you hurt so much before and examining them to fully understand yourself. Why did the cut hurt you in the past? How did it change you into who you are today? What can we learn from the pain of your yesterdays to better your tomorrows?”