I used to feel trapped in my own body. At my highest weight, simple things felt hard — walking, moving, breathing easier, even tying my shoes. So when I say losing weight taught me about freedom, I don’t just mean the scale. I mean feeling like I am slow ...
There are some lessons that stay with you.
Not because they were loud.
Not because they were fancy.
But because they were true.
One of the lessons I keep thinking about is this:
Don’t forget the bridge that carried you across.
That means something to me.
It means do not forget the people who helped you when you could not help yourself.
Do not forget the people who prayed for you.
Do not forget the people who stayed when life got heavy.
Do not forget the people who loved you when you did not even know how to love yourself.
Do not forget the people who helped you make it from one side of pain to the other.
Because sometimes we survive things, and when we finally start standing, we can forget how much love carried us when our own legs were shaking.
I do not want to forget.
I do not want to become so focused on becoming Antoinette that I forget the people who helped me become.
Because I did not get here alone.
I had bridges.
I had people.
I had hands.
I had prayers.
I had love that stayed.
And some of that love is still here.
Some of it is in heaven.
But all of it helped carry me across.
Some people are not just people in your life.
Some people are bridges.
They help you get from survival to healing.
From fear to safety.
From shame to self-worth.
From being lost to slowly finding yourself again.
They may not always have perfect words.
They may not always know exactly what to do.
But they show up in ways that matter.
They help you breathe.
They remind you that it is not all on you.
They hold you when you feel like you are falling apart.
They love you through seasons where you do not even feel lovable.
And I think that kind of love is sacred.
Because when you have been hurt, rejected, or made to feel like you are too much, the people who stay become something deeper than just support.
They become proof that love can still be safe.
They become proof that not everybody leaves.
They become proof that you are not as alone as pain tried to convince you that you were.
That is why I believe we should not forget the bridge that carried us across.
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