Healing Through Vulnerability

Fractured

u if they see you cry." It had become a mantra, one that shaped every decision she made, every emotion she buried. Emotions were something to control, to hide-deep within

tion in every area-school, friendships, family. Praise was rare, but it always came with a reminder: never let

ifteen had torn through her, but there had been no room to mourn. No time to feel. Instead, she buried herself in schoolwork, in responsibilities, in proving she cou

Her mother, lost in her own grief, had shifted the burden onto Lena, demanding that she be the "rock" of the family. The one who kept things together w

een gentler, more emotionally open, only deepened her frustration. Her mother had always held Lena up as a reflection of his strength, but

t numb the emptiness that had settled deep within her. She had felt it before, that hollow ache, but today it felt different. It was louder. It

ited, unexpected. They fell down her cheeks, one after another, despite her desperate attempts to hold them back. She wanted to

had been revealed. She felt herself unraveling in a way she had never allowed before. She wasn't sure if it was grief, or exhaustion, or some mix of both, but it didn't matter

lt a quiet, desperate resolve. She wasn't going to hide anymore. She wasn't going to pretend to be fine when she wasn't. The future was uncertain,